CNN star Acosta steals the show at summer school on Kilkenny border

Four days of performance, discussion and debate on Irish politics, culture and history in the town of New Ross, ancestral home of the family of JFK, took place as part of this year’s Kennedy Summer School.

From the origin of the ‘fake news’ quip in the White House press room to one of the first debates involving Ireland’s presidential candidates, through histories and lively debates, this year’s Kennedy Summer School (KSS) saw sold out, fascinated audiences.

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The festival continues to expand, kicking off this year with the Global Horizons Trade and Economic forum, a collaborative event with Wexford Chamber and Wexford County Council. It covered a wide range of topics from tariffs to corporation tax, the problems facing the EU in terms of competitiveness and the opportunities and challenges posed by AI.

One of the most popular events of the festival is the tea-party - recreating the tea-party hosted for JFK at the Kennedy Homestead in Dunganstown during his visit in 1963.

Tea Party
Now hosted by the OPW at the Arboretum with culinary delights supplied by Wexford Federation, ICA, this year’s guest was RTE broadcaster Seán O’Rourke, who in a lively conversation with former TD Seán Connick, brought us through the Haughey years and recalled some of his most important interviews.

The discussions moved to St. Michael’s Theatre from Thursday evening, where the KSS was officially opened by Uachtarán Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, GAA President Jarlath Burns.

Thursday concluded with a screening of ‘From That Small Island’, a 90-minute film/documentary version of Bríona Nic Dhiarmada’s four-part TV series telling the history of Ireland and its people, from Rathlin man to the present day.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, James Lawless, was the guest at the Speakers’ Lunch at the Arboretum on Friday.
That evening, journalists from both sides of the Atlantic debated the value of local journalism in a discussion moderated by Southeast Radio’s Alan Corcoran.

Colm Tóibín was the subject of the Noel Whelan interview. In an often funny and poignant chat, he talked about living in Trump’s America and predicted a win for New York Mayor front runner Zohran Mamdani in November.

This was a theme continued in the ‘Trump and the rest of Us’ panel, chaired by RTE’s Tony Connelly. There was talk about the war in Ukraine, the new normal under President Trump, the concerns around Project 25 and the risk of a global financial crisis as a result of the ever-changing tariff regime. What struck most of the attendees was the unwillingness of the American guests, Republican and Democrat, to criticise Israel.

Newsmaker
Day three featured debates on housing, the changing face of Irish America and the race for the Áras.
Special Guest Jim Acosta stole the show in the afternoon as he recalled his time as Chief White House Correspondent at CNN and his run-ins with President Trump.
For political nerds here, all eyes were on the Presidential panel .

Ambassador
US Ambassador Edward Walsh closed the Summer School, saying: “President Kennedy says we should not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer… schools like this exist to explore the Irish answer and the American answer in pursuit of resolving some of the world’s most difficult conflicts.”

KSS is supported by Wexford County Council, the OPW, Fáilte Ireland, Purdue University, the Purdue Policy Research Institute, and New Ross Municipal District.
KSS Chair Eileen Dunne, closing out this year’s festival said: “Feicfimid sibh an bhliain seo chugainn, le cúnamh Dé.”