Tom O’Neill, son of Speaker Tip O’Neill and Prof Ronan Fanning, former Prof of History, UCD

Tom O’Neill, son of Speaker Tip O’Neill, whose grandparents came from Inishowen, in conversation with Prof Ronan Fanning, UCD who gave a lecture on how Tip O’Neill managed to establish a special relationship between Ireland and USA despite opposition from the UK government. Pre-1977, Ireland did not feature in US foreign policy. Tip O’Neill changed all that and the Good Friday Agreement followed in 1998. The lecture was at the Slieve Snacht Centre, Drumfries near the ancestral O’Neill home. Only the wallsteads remain and the family now own the ruins and lands. Loretta Brennan Glucksman was given the Tip O’Neill Award and her involvement will further cement the link between Donegal and Boston. Her grandfather came from Greencastle.