Mylie Brennan

Queen's University Belfast PhD Award in Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen's University Belfast - International Relations

Mylie first visited Belfast during a study abroad trip in 2014 where she was shocked to learn about the Troubles and was fascinated by the success of the peace process. Brennan later focused her master's thesis on the impact of personal and political identities on peace in Northern Ireland, which made her want to understand identities in Northern Ireland even more. Particularly interesting in terms of political identity is the "Good Friday Agreement Generation" in Northern Ireland, which is made up of people born after the Troubles had ended in 1998. This cohort was too young to vote in the 2016 Brexit referendum, meaning that they were caught between two huge historical events in Northern Ireland (the Troubles and Brexit) with no say in their country's policies or future. Brennan's project aims to understand how these young people identify politically, which will provide insight into how and why they vote. She also hopes this project will provide insight into young people's attitudes toward voting and politics globally. Brennan will be joined in Belfast by her husband, Hunter, and their cat, Meowsers, and they can't wait to enjoy all that Northern Ireland has to offer.