Translation in Ireland: Afterword

Islands are often utopian sites and Ireland has been no exception in this respect. A crucial dimension to the utopian project is not only space but time. The article discusses the specific nature of time in modernity and how this is challenged by the practice of translation in Ireland and elsewhere. Insularity as a material and ecological reality has implications for the political destinies of islands such as Britain and Ireland which have existed in close geographical and historical relationship with each other over time. Drawing on the work of Gilles Deleuze and his differentiation of island types, there is consideration of how different paradigms produce different translation outcomes in changing political circumstances. The writings of the author and essayist Amitav Ghosh on climate change and improbability are drawn on to suggest that the seemingly utopian promise of translation from an ecological standpoint may be the only realistic way of proceeding to create sustainable societies on the island of Ireland and beyond.