Page 20 - The 17th Percy French Festival: The Quest for Authenticity

Michael holds a PhD in philosophy from NUIG. A native of Stephen is a political columnist with the Irish Times and was pre-
Athlone where he was born into a business. He attended Univer -
sity in Galway, and post graduate training in Counselling Psy -
chology at University College Cork. He has written several books
in the genre of psy chology/personal devel opment and was
elected Fellow of the Irish Institute of Train ing and Develo pment.
For several years he served on the national executive of the Irish
Association of Addiction Coun sel ling. In addition to his work in
the field of Psychology he has more recently engaged with formal
train ing in political philosophy receiving both Master’s and Doc-
torate degrees in this field. His recent book The Path to Mass Evil:
Hannah Arendt and Totalitarianism Today, (2023, Routledge, New
Dr Michael Hardiman York) is currently avail able within the academy worldwide and his
new book, Misled? How Ideology Captures Your Mind, is now avail -
able to general read ership. Michael lives in Galway where he
works as a psychologist and edu cator with a private counselling
prac tice. He also pre sents seminars and work shops nation wide
to family centres and to adult educa tion services.
Stephen is a prominent, philosopher and psychoanalyst.
He is the founder of the Viktor Frankl Institute of Ireland and
a cer tified Enneagram coach. He is the author of 16 books. He was
educated in St Gerard’s School, Castleknock College, University
College Dublin (where he read philosophy and Spanish language
and literature) and Trinity College Dublin (where he trained in
psychoanalysis). He has addressed two parliaments: the Stormont
Assembly on human rights and the European Parliament in Brus-
sels on meaning and mental health. Dr Costello has over 30 years’
experience, giving lec tures, talks, seminars, and workshops to
individuals and companies in Ireland, the UK, the USA, Austria,
and Switzerland (at the C.G. Jung Institute). His recent publi ca -
Dr Stephen J Costello tions include Dynamics of Discern ment (Pickwick Publications,
2022), Ignatian Mysticism (James Clarke, 2024), and The Alchemy
of Addiction (Routledge, 2024).
Úna was born in Co Louth close to the Border. She is a St Louis
Sister, Professor Emerita of Milltown Institute, Dublin, Spirituality
Dept. In 2004 she was a founder member of AISGA, (All-Ireland
Spiritual Guidance Association), and has, since 2006, been a mem -
ber of Spiritual Directors in Europe. Her research interests include
spirituality of the stages of life and the intersection between litera-
ture and spirituality. Her special emphasis has been on the work
of the poet Patrick Kavanagh. Author of The Mystical Imagination
of Patrick Kavanagh (Columba Press, 1998) and relaunched by
Veritas, Dublin in 2019. Her Love’s Doorway to Life: An Alternative
Biography of Patrick Kavanagh, with her brother Art, was published
as a triple CD in 2017 (Eist, Audio Productions, Dublin),
PROF. Una B Agnew
•18 • THE P ERCY FRENCH FESTIVAL 2025 THE QUEST FOR AUTHENTICIT Y
viously political editor of the newspaper for a decade. He was
educated at Oatlands College, Stillorgan, and later at UCD where
he graduated with an MA in Politics. He started as a journalist
with the Irish Press group and was political correspondent of the
Sunday Press and later the Sunday Tribune before moving to the
Irish Times. He has written a number of books about Irish political
history, including The Power Game: Ireland Under Fianna Fail,
(2002); Breaking the Mould: How the PDs changed Irish Politics
(2006); and Saving the State: Fine Gael from Collins to Varadkar
(2020). His most recent book, Ireland’s Call: How Brexit Got Done,
was published last year.
Stephen Collins
Laoise grew up on a farm in Co. Carlow. After studying law at TCD
she worked in London making TV documentaries for Channel 4
and the BBC and has worked as a producer and reporter for ITV.
For her MA thesis on the reporting of the Troubles she inter view ed
ex-combatants, journalists and politicians including the late Mar-
tin McGuinness. She was called to the Bar in 2022. She found ed
The Countess in 2019, an organisation that has gained prominence
over its advocacy on the 2015 Gender Recognition Act. Her cam-
paign ‘These Words Belong To Us’ stopped the government remov-
ing the word ‘woman’ from maternity legislation. She led a grass-
roots campaign that delivered the historic defeat of the Referen-
dums on the family and Care. She campaigned successfully
Laoise de Brún against the hate speech element of the hate crime bill and the
indoctrination of children into gender ideology in the classroom.
Michael ws born 1953. He is the author f two novels, Priest and
The Trouble with Sarah Gullion, and numerous theatre works
including: Strawboys; Una Pooka; Misogynist; Hubert Murray’s
Widow; Sour Grapes; and Amazing Grace (all with the Abbey
Theatre), and over ten plays for other companies. He has been
awarded the Stewart Parker Award for Theatre, The Bank of
Ireland RTÉ award for excel lence in the arts and The Hennessy
Award for short stories. He has been Writer in Association with
The National Theatre in 1993 and he was short-listed for the
Irish Times/Aer Lingus Literature Award in 1989. In 2000 he was
Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin and he was nominated
for the Jane Snow Award for Theatre writing in 2003. He has also
Michael Harding explored connections between theatre and performance art.
He was nominated for Best Male Performer, at the Dublin Theatre
Fringe Festival, 2002, and he was the overall winner of Best Male
Performer Award at Dublin Fringe Festival 2003. His eight books
of memoirs, chron icles of ordinary life in Ireland, which have been
number one best sellers, and recip ients of numerous awards. He
continues to perform in theatre, film, and one-man shows based
on his writings. His most recent memoir, I loved him from the day
he died, was published in 2024. He is a member of Aosdána.
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