MAIREAD NIC CRAITH is an anthropologist at the Academy for Irish Cultural heritages, University of Ulster (Magee Campus). She has previously been attached to the University of Liverpool and University Colleges Dublin and Cork. She is author and editor of several books including Plural Identities, Singular Narratives (2002) and has lectured and published extensively on aspects of culture and language in Northern Ireland and in Europe. Her research interests include culture and identity politics, European integration and regional cultures and languages, and European influences on Irish culture.