School of History to host the Second Annual Dermot Keogh Memorial Lecture
The School of History is proud to host the Second Annual Dermot Keogh Memorial Lecture in the Aula Maxima at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, 7 October 2026. The focus on this occasion will relate to Professor Keogh’s European Studies legacy. His work on Ireland and European integration is foundational, and he was deeply absorbed by events across Europe. The speaker for the memorial lecture, RTÉ Europe Editor Tony Connelly, will bring some of these matters up to the present day, as European unity is being increasingly undermined and governments across the European Union are left facing into major challenges.
All are welcome to attend this event
Speaker: Mr. Tony Connelly, Europe Editor, RTE News & Current Affairs
Tony Connelly is Europe Editor for RTE, Ireland’s public broadcaster, covering European affairs since 2001. He has reported extensively on Ukraine and the Middle East conflict. Tony was awarded an honorary doctorate for services to journalism by the University of Galway and is the recipient of two ESB National Media awards and a New York Festivals radio award. He is married with three children, and lives in Brussels.
Lecture Title:
“One crisis after another: reporting the European Union in the 21st Century”
Jean Monnet famously said Europe would be forged in crises, and Europe's founding father identified the bonding agent that would make the continent stronger and more united in such a crucible. For decades, this solidarity held firm. Today, however, Europe is beset by a cascade of challenges undermining its unity: Russia's war against Ukraine is edging closer to European soil and war in the Middle East has tipped the EU into an energy shock, exposing the limits of its diplomacy. Brussels remains vulnerable to the trade whims and culture wars of the Trump Administration, while its industrial base is being sorely tested by surging and subsidised Chinese exports. While poorer Balkan countries want to join the bloc, rich ones like Iceland have turned up their noses. The centre of pro-EU member states is holding — just — but a wave of elections next year threatens to return a raft of hard right, eurosceptic parties to power, even in Jean Monnet's France. All told, the EU's mission, to uphold global democratic values and advance prosperity through its single market, is under unprecedented threat from without and within. As Ireland steers its EU presidency towards a decisive finale, RTE's Europe Editor Tony Connelly delivers the Dermot Keogh Memorial Lecture on Europe's colliding inflection points, and the challenges of reporting truth in the maelstrom.
- Date & Time: Wednesday, October 7, 2026 · 6:00 PM
- Location: Aula Maxima, University College Cork