Lecture
Protecting the Peace Process in Post-Brexit Northern Ireland
- Date
- Friday 25 November 2022
- Time
- Location
-
Kamerlingh Onnes Building
Steenschuur 25
2311 ES Leiden
The upcoming twenty-fifth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) is an important milestone to reflect on the progress towards peace in Northern Ireland and the ongoing challenges, including the lingering dispute between the United Kingdom and the European Union over post-Brexit border arrangements.
Peacebuilding and conflict mitigation, negotiation and resolution remain important in Northern Ireland today. Brexit has raised many challenges for future EU/UK relations, but few of greater significance than the status of the Irish border. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the GFA is an important moment to reflect on how the Agreement was shaped, and also to discuss and consider the impact of the most significant change to the complex political, economic and social landscape of Northern Ireland since the GFA was agreed - the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU).
The Embassy of Ireland in the Netherlands and the Department of History cordially invite you to join an event to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and to discuss the historical and on-going contemporary challenges. The event features three speakers, their opening talks will be followed by a Q and A, offering plenty of opportunity for audience members to ask questions.
Please register in advance, tickets are free and available via Eventbrite.
About the speakers
Mr. Pat Hynes has worked as a policy advisor to several Government Ministers and the Irish Prime Minister. In 1993, he began working on issues relating to the emerging Northern Ireland Peace Process. Between 1993 and 2007, he participated in many confidential and back-channel conversations with Political Parties and Paramilitary organisations in relation to the Ceasefires, the Negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent implementation of the agreement. He currently plays a key role in the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation.
Mr. Tim O’Connor is a former Senior Diplomat of the Irish Foreign Service (1979-2007) and a former Secretary General (Chief of Staff) to the President of Ireland (2007-2010). Most of his career was spent working on the Northern Ireland Peace Process. He was a member of the Irish Government Talks Team for the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and was the inaugural Joint Secretary General of the North/South Ministerial Council, established by the Agreement to oversee cross-border co-operation on the island of Ireland, from 1999 to 2005. He is currently Chair of the Independent Reporting Commission which monitors progress on tackling paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland.
Dr. Lisa Claire Whitten is a Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, working on a project that examines the governance challenges inherent in implementing the Northern Ireland Protocol. Prior to moving into academia, Lisa Claire held a variety of posts in the political and public sector, including working for the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels and for a Member of the UK Parliament in Westminster.
