Conversations at Drift
Ireland: From the Inside

The country, view from within.

A curated weekend, ready to join. Three hosted conversations across the economy, the peace and the culture, with voices who have shaped each.

The long table, set for ten.

The conversations

Three voices, one weekend, the real Ireland.

Not a tour and not a lecture. Three private conversations at the table and by the fire, each with someone who has lived the subject, held under the Chatham House Rule.

The Economy

How a small island became one of the most open, high-technology economies in the world, what it took, where the value sits, and where it goes from here.

In conversation with an economist who advises at the top.

Power & the Peace

The State, the border and a peace made within living memory, read from a house within sight of the line, and what the next chapter may hold.

In conversation with a figure from public life.

Identity & Culture

The literature, the music and the language that carry the place and shape its identity, why a small country has given the world so many of its writers, and what a new Ireland sounds like by the fire.

In conversation with a writer and a musician.

And through it all, the table: Irish food and the land it comes from, long lunches in the open air, and the house yours between the conversations.

How it works

Conversations, not lectures.

A leadership and learning programme, not a holiday. The three conversations are drawn out at the table and by the fire, under the Chatham House Rule, never from a podium. You arrive having read a short curated briefing, and leave with a bound folio of what the weekend surfaced.

1

Read the briefing.

A short, curated brief reaches you before you arrive, so the table starts already in motion.

2

Arrive Friday.

We take care of everything, including your transfers from either airport. From the moment you land, the house, the food and the land are yours for four days.

3

The conversations, by the fire.

Three voices across the weekend, drawn out in conversation rather than slides, with time to think between them.

4

Leave with the journal and folio.

The journal you kept, with a bound record of the tools, frameworks and ideas the weekend surfaced, yours to take home.

The setting

A few moments at Drift.

The house, the fire, the water and the long table, among the drumlins of Monaghan.

Drift Farmhouse, across the gardens
Drift Farmhouse, across the gardens
The fireside room
The fireside room
Long lunches on the terrace
Long lunches on the terrace
The indoor pool, beneath the beams
The indoor pool, beneath the beams
The hot tub, set in the old ruins
The hot tub, set in the old ruins
The sauna, beside the pool
The sauna, beside the pool
A bedroom, light and linen
A bedroom, light and linen
The library, for the slower hours
The library, for the slower hours
The kitchen, and the long table
The kitchen, and the long table
Lough Muckno
Lough Muckno
The method

A structured programme, not a panel.

Ireland: From the Inside is built as a deliberate curriculum: preparatory reading before you arrive, expert-led sessions, guided discussion around the table, a journal you keep as you go, and a private learning folio to take home. The method is narrative, working through first-hand stories to read the country’s economy, politics and culture from the inside rather than the outside.

  • Preparatory reading
  • Expert-led sessions
  • Guided discussion
  • A journal and folio
Enquire

Request the brochure, and a call.

Tell us a little and we will send the brochure and arrange a short, private call with the convenor.

This is a facilitated professional learning programme, not a property-booking service. Venues are used as educational settings only and are not offered for standalone rental.