Brendan Howlin grew up in Wexford town and was educated locally in the Faythe and at Wexford CBS. He later attended St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin, and qualified as a primary school teacher. During his career as a teacher he was active in the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, before embarking on a career in full-time politics.
He was a TD for the Wexford constituency from 1987 until his retirement in 2024. He previously served as Leader of the Labour Party from 2016 to 2020, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 2011 to 2016, Leas-Cheann Comhairle from 2007 to 2011, Deputy leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002, Minister for the Environment from 1994 to 1997, and Minister for Health from 1993 to 1994. He was a Senator from 1983 to 1987, after being nominated by the Taoiseach.
Frank Groome took up his post as Consul General of Ireland to the US Southeast in August 2024. Based in Atlanta, Frank leads Ireland's team covering Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
He was Deputy Head of Mission at the Irish Embassy in The Hague between 2020 and 2024. Prior to his posting in the Netherlands he was Deputy Director for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.
Frank has worked in various posts in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and at the United Nations in New York. Prior to joining the Department of Foreign Affairs, Frank worked in the energy sector for several years.
Dr. Groome holds a Master's degree in law from King’s College London and Ph.D in diplomatic history from University College Dublin.
For over three decades, Bob Harris was the Warden on one of the most remote, forbidding, and beautiful places on earth. His international best-seller, Returning Light: Thirty Years on the Island of Skellig Michael is an outstanding piece of nature writing, garnering unanimous praise from critics.
The island itself is a UNSECO World Heritage site, the most spectacularly situated of all the early medieval island monastic sites in Ireland. It rises from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of County Kerry, and is also one of the most important sites for breeding seabirds in Ireland.
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"A heartfelt, profound memoir about the importance of place and what it really means to belong." — Belfast Telegraph
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