The Water That Surrounds Us Michael Cronin and Mark Mellett in conversation with Lorna Siggins

Sunday 08th November @ 11:00 am
Royal Irish Academy of Music »
Free. Booking required

As the climate crisis remains one of our most pressing issues, join us for a morning with two authors whose books explore how protecting our seas and oceans is key in this ongoing battle. Michael Cronin’s Ireland: Why It Matters to Be an Island (Royal Irish Academy) considers how Ireland is shaped – culturally, politically and ecologically – by the seas that surround it. Now, more than ever, we need to adopt a better understanding of our environmental integrity as we tackle the climate emergency threatening our shared island home. In Blue Heart: War, Climate and the Battle for the Ocean that Keeps us Alive (Wordwell), Mark Mellett draws on a lifetime in naval command and international security to explore how the defining crises of the twenty-first century — climate change, energy insecurity, geopolitical instability, food vulnerability and the erosion of democratic resilience — are all converging at sea. This is a book of both hope and agency, arguing that we possess the foresight, responsibility and capacity to face these profound challenges head on. The authors join journalist, author and marine expert, Lorna Siggins, in conversation.

Michael Cronin is 1776 Professor of French in Trinity College Dublin and Senior Researcher in the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation. Among his recently published titles are Irish and Ecology: An Ghaeilge agus an Éiceolaíocht (FÁS, 2019) and Eco-Travel: Journeying in the Age of the Anthropocene (Cambridge University Press, 2022). He is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy, a Member of the Academia Europaea, an Officier in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques and a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin.

Vice Admiral Mark Mellett was the first naval officer in the history of the Irish State to serve as Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, having previously served as Chief of Navy, serving in this role until 2001. He holds a PhD in Political Science from NUI Galway, is a graduate of the distinguished United States Naval War College (where he was top graduate from the 32 attending countries), the top graduate of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and was recently appointed Adjunct Professor of Law at UCC.

Lorna Siggins is a print and radio journalist, specialising in marine issues. She is a former Irish Times journalist, and currently works for RTÉ Radio 1 Countrywide, The Sunday and Irish Independent and the marine press. She is author of several books, including Everest Calling (1994 and 2013) on the first Irish ascent of Everest; Mary Robinson: The Woman Who Took Power in the Park; Once Upon A Time in the West on the Corrib gas controversy; and Search and Rescue: True Stories of Irish Air-Sea Rescue and the Loss of Rescue 116. She won a Celtic Media award with co-producer Sarah Blake for the RTÉ Radio Documentary on One, Miracle on Galway Bay (2021)

This event is part of Science Week 2026 supported by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland.

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