Stop seeing Irish Sea as ‘barrier’, says Brannigan

For far too long, the waterway between these islands has been viewed more as a "barrier" than as a "shared space", Prof John Brannigan of UCD's school of English, drama and film says.

James Joyce dismissed it as "snotgreen" and "scrotumtightening" in Ulysses, while a historian described it as the "British Mediterranean". However, Scotland's referendum offers opportunities for a more positive attitude towards the Irish Sea, Prof Brannigan has said.

The academic, who is joint organiser of a symposium on the subject later this week, says it is time for collaboration between the sciences and the humanities to enhance understanding of the Irish Sea’s economic and cultural benefits.

“Whatever the outcome of the Scottish referendum, the debate has focused attention on questions of sovereignty and on the geographical relationship between these islands,” he says.

"Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond has been gesturing towards brand new models of government, and our common sea could and should be a part of that approach," he says.

Prof Brannigan is part of the Atlantic Archipelagos Research Consortium, which is hosting a symposium with UCD in the National Maritime Museum, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

Its aim is to unite scientists, the humanities and maritime heritage experts, and to devise ways of collaborating on an extensive interdisciplinary research project, he says.

irishseasymposium.com