In this month’s ARINS podcast, host Rory Montgomery chat to Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride about their recent ARINS publication: For and Against a United Ireland.
The prospect of Irish unification is now stronger than at any point since partition in 1921. Voters on both sides of the Irish border may soon have to confront for themselves what the answer to a referendum question would mean - for themselves, for their neighbours, and for their society.
Journalists Fintan O'Toole and Sam McBride examine the strongest arguments for and against a united Ireland. What do the words 'united Ireland' even mean? Would it be better for Northern Ireland? Would it improve lives in the Republic of Ireland? And could it be brought about without bloodshed?
O’Toole and McBride each argue the case for and against unity, questioning received wisdom and bringing fresh thinking to one of Ireland’s most intractable questions. With cartoons by Fergus Boylan.
The book has been shortlisted for An Post Book Award 2025 - BEST IRISH-PUBLISHED BOOK OF THE YEAR. See shortlist
Book tickets to see the authors debate the strongest arguments for and against a united Ireland in The Lyric Theatre, Belfast and The National Concert Hall, Dublin in November 2025!
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This is episode 47 of a podcast series that provides evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south.
Host Rory Montgomery, MRIA, talks to authors of articles on topics such as cross border health co-operation; the need to regulate social media in referendums, education, cultural affairs and constitutional questions and the imperative for good data and the need to carry out impartial research.
ARINS: Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South brings together experts to provide evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south. The project publishes, facilitates and disseminates research on the challenges and opportunities presented to the island in a post-Brexit context, with the intention of contributing to an informed public discourse. More information can be found at www.arinsproject.com
ARINS is a joint project of The Royal Irish Academy, an all-island body, and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.
All content for The Royal Irish Academy is the property of The Royal Irish Academy and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
In this month’s ARINS podcast, host Rory Montgomery chat to Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride about their recent ARINS publication: For and Against a United Ireland.
The prospect of Irish unification is now stronger than at any point since partition in 1921. Voters on both sides of the Irish border may soon have to confront for themselves what the answer to a referendum question would mean - for themselves, for their neighbours, and for their society.
Journalists Fintan O'Toole and Sam McBride examine the strongest arguments for and against a united Ireland. What do the words 'united Ireland' even mean? Would it be better for Northern Ireland? Would it improve lives in the Republic of Ireland? And could it be brought about without bloodshed?
O’Toole and McBride each argue the case for and against unity, questioning received wisdom and bringing fresh thinking to one of Ireland’s most intractable questions. With cartoons by Fergus Boylan.
The book has been shortlisted for An Post Book Award 2025 - BEST IRISH-PUBLISHED BOOK OF THE YEAR. See shortlist
Book tickets to see the authors debate the strongest arguments for and against a united Ireland in The Lyric Theatre, Belfast and The National Concert Hall, Dublin in November 2025!
---
This is episode 47 of a podcast series that provides evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south.
Host Rory Montgomery, MRIA, talks to authors of articles on topics such as cross border health co-operation; the need to regulate social media in referendums, education, cultural affairs and constitutional questions and the imperative for good data and the need to carry out impartial research.
ARINS: Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South brings together experts to provide evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south. The project publishes, facilitates and disseminates research on the challenges and opportunities presented to the island in a post-Brexit context, with the intention of contributing to an informed public discourse. More information can be found at www.arinsproject.com
ARINS is a joint project of The Royal Irish Academy, an all-island body, and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.
A Naturalist’s Record: Stories from the Collections of R. J. Ussher
The Royal Irish Academy
57 minutes 14 seconds
2 months ago
A Naturalist’s Record: Stories from the Collections of R. J. Ussher
Listen back to our 2025 Heritage Week lecture by Emma Murphy, curator at the National Museum of Ireland – Natural History. Learn about R. J. Ussher MRIA, 1841-1913, and his connections to the National Museum, including a large collection of archived correspondence from Ussher to the curators and the hundreds of specimen donations that Ussher gave personally, or were given by his associates due to his encouragement.
Richard John Ussher MRIA, 1841-1913, was a speleologist, ornithologist, and renowned Irish naturalist. He published lists of Irish birds, showing the species contained in the National Collection. These, alongside “The Birds of Ireland” (1900), co-authored with Warren, were important works in the history of Irish ornithology. He donated his archive collection to the Royal Irish Academy, and many specimens to the National Museum of Ireland - Natural History.
Emma Murphy, Curator of Terrestrial Zoology at NMI – Natural History gave this lecture, exploring some of the stories, both funny and tragic, that can be found within Ussher’s collections, and highlighting his enduring scientific legacy.
This lecture was part of an programme of events relating to the Ussher Birds Notes collection, held in RIA Library. In 2024, the Library received funding from the Heritage Council as part of the Heritage Stewardship Fund for a project entitled, ‘The Birds of Ireland: Curating the Richard J. Ussher Collection at the Royal Irish Academy’. This project aimed to secure the long-term preservation, access, and discovery of material from the Ussher Bird Notes Collection through a programme of archival cataloguing, digitisation and outreach. The Ussher Bird Notes Digital Archive was launched in May 2025, and included digital images, with accompanying metadata, of 900 selected items from the collection. Detailed cataloguing of over 9000 items from the collection was also completed and researchers can contact library@ria.ie for more information about this listing.
Thanks to a second tranche of funding from the Heritage Stewardship Fund, granted in 2025, the remainder of the Ussher Bird Notes Collection will be catalogued and more material will be added to the digital archive in due course.
The Royal Irish Academy
In this month’s ARINS podcast, host Rory Montgomery chat to Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride about their recent ARINS publication: For and Against a United Ireland.
The prospect of Irish unification is now stronger than at any point since partition in 1921. Voters on both sides of the Irish border may soon have to confront for themselves what the answer to a referendum question would mean - for themselves, for their neighbours, and for their society.
Journalists Fintan O'Toole and Sam McBride examine the strongest arguments for and against a united Ireland. What do the words 'united Ireland' even mean? Would it be better for Northern Ireland? Would it improve lives in the Republic of Ireland? And could it be brought about without bloodshed?
O’Toole and McBride each argue the case for and against unity, questioning received wisdom and bringing fresh thinking to one of Ireland’s most intractable questions. With cartoons by Fergus Boylan.
The book has been shortlisted for An Post Book Award 2025 - BEST IRISH-PUBLISHED BOOK OF THE YEAR. See shortlist
Book tickets to see the authors debate the strongest arguments for and against a united Ireland in The Lyric Theatre, Belfast and The National Concert Hall, Dublin in November 2025!
---
This is episode 47 of a podcast series that provides evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south.
Host Rory Montgomery, MRIA, talks to authors of articles on topics such as cross border health co-operation; the need to regulate social media in referendums, education, cultural affairs and constitutional questions and the imperative for good data and the need to carry out impartial research.
ARINS: Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South brings together experts to provide evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south. The project publishes, facilitates and disseminates research on the challenges and opportunities presented to the island in a post-Brexit context, with the intention of contributing to an informed public discourse. More information can be found at www.arinsproject.com
ARINS is a joint project of The Royal Irish Academy, an all-island body, and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.
