Interview by Seán Ó Conláin (FEASTA & EHFF) with Philip McDonagh. Philip is the author of several poetry collections and the Director of the Centre for Religion, Human Values, and International Relations at Dublin City University. A former diplomat, he was involved in the Good Friday Agreement peace process in Northern Ireland, and he served as Irish ambassador to India, the Holy See, Russia and Finland.
The topics that Philip and Seán discussed included:
– the truth expressed by poetry
– links between Classical thinking on community, indigenous group governance and the role of the commons
– the need for awareness of history, politics and language in spiritual disciples
– attitudes towards private property and the role of money in the economy
– the view expressed by many that endless economic growth is both necessary and possible
– the skill involved in working on visions of reality
– past examples of visionary thinking during dark times that bore tangible fruit