Ireland at Breaking Point
Ireland's political discourse is outdated. The issues we face are evolving rapidly, while our media and academic institutions remain stagnant.
Ireland needs a forum where established ideas meet new ones—a space that evaluates ideas not by existing ideologies, but by their merit.
Who are we?
Breaking Point is an Irish forum founded by recent graduates of Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin to foster meaningful political and cultural debate. Committed to open discourse, we facilitate engagement with the defining ideas of our time through talks and debates held across the country.
Mission Statement
A healthy civic life depends on forums and spaces for open discourse and debate. Without them, public life is impoverished. Yet in many cases, Ireland’s institutions—our national media and universities—have abandoned their role as hosts to critics and instead have become critics themselves.
Ireland has a long history of producing great thinkers and challengers of convention. But as The Trinity Declaration on Academic Freedom asked: could Irish universities today produce another Wilde, Swift, or Berkeley? We believe they could—but without an outlet for open discourse, such voices may be driven to emigrate.
As Ireland faces an increasingly polarised and uncertain future, people across the political spectrum need spaces where they can engage with opposing ideas. Breaking Point seeks to fill this void.
We believe open discourse is essential for all forms of progress—political, cultural, economic, and scientific. Yet a stifling culture within many of Ireland’s institutions has hindered such progress. Irish political life would benefit from an injection of liberty. Breaking Point is committed to creating platforms, forums, and venues where people from all sides of the political divide can debate and engage with the defining ideas of our time.