Welcome to The Burkean

One year ago the Burkean Journal launched in Trinity College Dublin with the dream to create a conservative voice for students across Irish universities. A year later, we are here to welcome our readers back to The Burkean – the culmination of the efforts of an incredible volunteer staff, the countless brilliant writers that have contributed, and our many great friends without whom this project would have been impossible.

Despite much opposition and hostility from a vocal minority, we are still here, and we are here to stay. We have operated entirely on small donations, and owe our continued existence to the generosity of those who have given. Unlike most other publications we receive nothing from universities, corporations, NGOs or the government.

We are a somewhat different organisation to the one that began in late 2017, we operate under a different name, our mission is greatly expanded and a new team of exceptional individuals run The Burkean. Not only are we a voice for conservatism on campus, but now a nationwide publication dedicated to the narratives that do not receive a fair hearing in the Irish mainstream.

We maintain our absolute dedication to freedom of speech and encouraging a marketplace of ideas both on campus and across the country. It is our promise to continue publishing high-quality opinion and analysis from conservative, libertarian and nationalist perspectives – fostering a space to explore and develop the ideas that will shape Ireland going forward.

The youth of the Irish nation are the cultural and social vanguard of this country – on all sides of the political spectrum – and while it is easy to dismiss them as inexperienced, idealistic, and full of nonsense, it is our view that there is nothing more valuable. This has been evidenced time and again by the many intelligent, articulate and well-researched articles submitted to us by college students – many of which go above and beyond the quality available in the mainstream press.

Ireland has never had true conservative or nationalist movements, they have been stifled, conservatism by religiosity and nationalism by sectarianism and marxism – their ideals unable to evolve into the fully formed theories and structures that we need now more than ever.

As the only publication in Ireland willing to address these topics, it is the great ambition of The Burkean to be the formative voice for the beliefs that will build the Ireland of the future. To give young people a place to share ideas, and impart the knowledge to each other that we will need if we wish to keep this nation alive and prosperous.

It is not an exaggeration to say that we stand on a societal precipice, Ireland is changing quickly, and almost certainly for the worse. We are a nation that desperately needs new perspectives, new ideas and new solutions. It would be an insult to our national heroes of old to let the Irish TImes opinion section represent the intellectual culmination of the Irish people.

The last year has made it more evident than ever before that there is both a need and an appetite for The Burkean, and all the opinions expressed within. We will bring a new, uniquely Irish angle to conservatism, libertarianism, nationalism and many other relevant ideologies.

The Burkean will be the independent, courageous and impervious voice for an Ireland long lost – to be reborn.