The 2026 Henry Grattan Lecture was delivered by Tom Fletcher, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, this week at the Embassy of Ireland in London, bringing together Trinity alumni, friends of the College, diplomats and members of the media for an evening of reflection and connection.
Mr. Fletcher began his remarks with an intimate story that spoke powerfully to the enduring ties between Ireland and Britain. A century ago, his English grandfather sailed back to Liverpool after falling in love that Easter with his Irish grandmother. Mr. Fletcher recently discovered decades of their correspondence, including a letter written by his grandfather at the age of 22. As his grandfather looked back towards a lighthouse where he knew his grandmother would be watching his ship slip beyond the horizon, he wrote “never think of the Irish Sea as something that divides us, but as something that connects us.”