EU50 – celebrating 50 years as part of EU; Westmeath events

As Ireland celebrates 50 years of membership of the European Union, a number of events have been scheduled locally to explore the country’s history and relationship with Europe.

• Tuesday May 9, 5.15pm: European History Reading Group, ‘Understanding our European Family through History’, recommended reads with guest speaker Francis Jacobs; Mullingar Library, Áras an Chontae, Westmeath County Council, N91 FH4N

• Tuesday May 9, 6.30pm, Dr John Gibney, ‘What the archives tell us about why we joined the EEC’; Aidan Heavy Library, Athlone N37 N625

• Thursday May 11, 8.30pm, Dr David McCullagh – ‘Why Ireland Chose Europe: A Small Country Seeking Release from the Anglo-Saxon Orbit’; Atrium, Áras an Chontae, Westmeath County Council N91 FH4N

Admission is free to all events, but booking is recommended at westmeathculture.ie.

Drop in to the libraries between May 8 and 11 and catch the digital exhibition ‘Into Europe’ compiled by the Royal Irish Academy (RIA).

Dr John Gibney is the assistant editor with the RIA’s Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series and is the co-author (with Kate O’Malley) of ‘The Handover: Dublin Castle and the British withdrawal from Ireland, 1922’ (Royal Irish Academy). He was centrally involved in the development of the National Archives’ exhibition on the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Broadcaster Dr David McCullagh is an anchor presenter of The Six-One News on RTÉ, and a former political correspondent. He has a PhD in politics from University College Dublin and is the author of five books on Irish history, including ‘De Valera Rise’ and ‘De Valera Rule’, the acclaimed two-volume reassessment of Eamon de Valera, as a leader of the Easter Rising, figurehead of the anti-treaty rebels during the Civil War and later, founder of Fianna Fail and president of Ireland.