About the series

The convenors of the Cambridge Future of the Island of Ireland series

Dr Niamh Gallagher is a Fellow of St Catharine's College and Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History at the University of Cambridge. She has published widely on the history of these islands and notable publications include Ireland and the Great War: A Social and Political History (Bloomsbury, 2019), winner of the Royal Historical Society's Whitfield Prize, and The Political Thought of the Irish Revolution (Cambridge, 2022). She appears regularly in the media. In 2021, she was a member of the Independent Historical Advisory Panel for Northern Ireland, appointed by the UK government. Niamh is currently the recipient of a lectureship in modern Irish history generously funded by the Irish Government's Department of Foreign Affairs' Peace and Reconciliation Fund and is currently working on a history of Ireland and the 'ends' of the British Empire.

Barry Colfer is Director of Research for the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA) think tank in Dublin. Barry holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil from the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Cambridge. Prior to joining the IIEA, Barry was Max Weber Fellow at EUI Florence. Barry previously held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oxford, Harvard University, and the Politecnico di Torino in Italy. Prior to this Barry studied at University College Dublin and spent two years in student politics. Barry’s research interests include the politics of European integration, the future of work, and the consequences of Brexit for Ireland. Barry is a fellow of the UK Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) and has worked at both the Irish and European Parliaments as well as with a number of leading European think tanks.