The Henry Grattan Lecture Series
The Henry Grattan Lecture Series – a flagship initiative of the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy – plays an important role in enabling Trinity to engage with society and in ensuring that leading academics and policy makers from around the world are publicly accessible.
Lectures are open to the public and there is no charge to attend.
Upcoming Speakers
- Additional speakers will be announced shorty
Previous Speakers
The following speakers have previously delivered a Henry Grattan public lecture:
- 5 May 2013 - London Lecture - British and Irish Relations with a Changing EU
- 11 April 2013 - Jan Vincent Rostowski (Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland)
- 23 January 2012 - Joschka Fischer, former German Vice-Chancellor, Paul Gillespie, The Irish Times and David O'Sullivan, European External Action Service
- 19 January 2012 - Prof Karel Williams, Manchester Business School
- 25 October 2011 - Peter Boone, LSE, Mike Dooley, UCSC, Jean Pisani-Ferry, Bruegel and Ciarán OHagan, Société Générale
- 26 May 2011 - Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, Minister of Finance, Iceland
- 11 May 2011 - Prof Colin Crouch, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, England
- 6 April 2011 - Prof Philip Lane, Head of Economics Department, Trinity College Dublin
- 30 March 2011 - Prof Michael Gallagher, Head of Political Science Department, Trinity College Dublin
- 14 March 2011 - Mr Andres Velasco, former Finance Minister of Chile
About Henry Grattan
The Right Hon. Henry Grattan (1746-1820) is a celebrated graduate of Trinity College Dublin. As a member of the Irish House of Commons, commonly described as Grattan’s Parliament, he was a strenuous and determined campaigner for constitutional and political rights.
Grattan retired from the House of Commons (now the Bank of Ireland) in 1797 in protest over his proposed political reforms being ignored. He was convinced that in the absence of vital and fundamental reform, Ireland was drifting towards rebellion. In his 24-page “Letter to the citizens of Dublin”, Grattan explained his dramatic decision. In order to “save the country”, he wrote, it was “absolutely necessary to reform the state”. The “continuation of the old system” would lead to Ireland’s downfall because the people no longer had confidence in parliament. Grattan returned to parliament to voice his opposition against the Act of Union 1801 and continued to advocate for political reform and crusade against corruption until his death in 1820.
Contact Us
For additional information or if you wish to register for a Henry Grattan Lecture in advance please contact Policy Institute at:
- Email: policy.institute@tcd.ie
- Phone: +353 1 896 1871