Ireland North-South Project
Discussing John Hume and his contribution to peace in Ireland
Dublin City University was delighted to host a screening of Maurice Fitzpatrick's acclaimed film In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America and host a discussion with Maurice (Director and Producer), and three participants in the talks which led to the 1998 Good Friday peace Agreement -Brid Rogers (former deputy leader of John Hume's party, the SDLP), Gerry Adams TD (former President of Sinn Féin) and Liz O Donnell (former Irish Government Minister) on Thursday 4th October.
Since opening at the Galway Film Fleadh, John Hume in America has featured at over twenty five film festivals across the world including in Toronto, Washington DC, Boston FF, Los Angeles, Perth, Chicago, London, Los Gatos, United Nations FF, Glasgow, Derry, Cork, IFI Festival of Politics, Vancouver (EU FF), Ottawa (EU FF) Moscow, San Francisco, Boston (Irish FF) Sydney, Melbourne, Luxembourg, the Geneva Peace Week Festival in the UN, the Irish Festival of Oulu and—in Brazil—Aracaju, Brasília, Curitiba, Florianópolis and Salvador. It also screened at three parliaments (US Congress, Europe, Ireland) and at The Council for Foreign Relations accompanied by a discussion with former Northern Ireland envoys Dr Richard Haass and Senator George Mitchell at the CFR headquarters in New York. It was launched in Boston at the JFK Library by Senators Paul Kirk and George Mitchell. It also screened in Harvard Law School, Emory University, Notre Dame University, UPenn and UC Berkeley. The accompanying book John Hume in America (Irish Academic Press, 2017) was launched by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin, by Seamus Mallon in Belfast and by Matt Kennedy in the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston.
The post-film discussion, moderated by IICRR Director Professor John Doyle, both highlighted little known aspects of John Hume's immense political contribution from political rivals and colleagues alike, and also allowed for an opportunity to explore the origins of the peace process in the Hume-Adams dialogue of the early 1990s. Those talks, held in secrecy over many months, laid the basis for subsequent engagement with the Irish and British Governments, the 1994 IRA ceasefire and ultimately the talks which led to the 1998 Agreement. The participants reflected in particular on the nervousness of party colleagues and the Irish Government when the initiative went public, and the important role of key figures in the US Congress, the US labour movement, the Irish American community and in particular the Clinton White House in creating sufficient momentum to persuade the British Government to engage in a peace process of which they were, initially, intensely suspicious. Apart from the poignancy of the film itself, reflecting on John Hume's contribution to peace, a comment towards the end by Gerry Adams summed up the mood of the debate – what if John Hume had decided not to take the risks required to make the Hume-Adams dialogue a success? There is compelling international evidence, form the Middle East to Sri Lanka and beyond, that when opportunities for peace are not taken up, they do not always come back quickly.
UNDP report examines youth perceptions in Vietnam
Book considers Irish Government's relationship with Northern Ireland
Political Power, Criminality and Conflict Conference – 16th September 2022
Gender re-ordering and the Colombian peace agreement
Explaining the different results in opinion polls on Irish unity
The first time you flee war is hard, the second one is easier: a Ukrainian personal Odyssey
Online seminar with Prof. John Doyle (Dublin City University)
Archives Select Month September 2022 (1) August 2022 (1) July 2022 (2) May 2022 (4) April 2022 (4) March 2022 (4) February 2022 (5) January 2022 (2) November 2021 (5) October 2021 (1) September 2021 (4) July 2021 (2) June 2021 (3) May 2021 (4) April 2021 (3) March 2021 (2) February 2021 (4) January 2021 (3) December 2020 (2) November 2020 (6) October 2020 (2) August 2020 (1) July 2020 (4) June 2020 (1) May 2020 (2) February 2020 (1) January 2020 (1) November 2019 (2) October 2019 (2) May 2019 (1) April 2019 (1) March 2019 (5) December 2018 (1) November 2018 (5) October 2018 (5) September 2018 (4) August 2018 (1) July 2018 (1) June 2018 (5) May 2018 (6) April 2018 (12) March 2018 (3) February 2018 (5) January 2018 (3) December 2017 (7) November 2017 (5) October 2017 (10) September 2017 (1) August 2017 (2) June 2017 (3) May 2017 (6) April 2017 (1) March 2017 (8) February 2017 (3) January 2017 (4) December 2016 (1) November 2016 (2) October 2016 (3) September 2016 (5) August 2016 (2) July 2016 (1) June 2016 (3) April 2016 (3) February 2016 (3) December 2015 (2) November 2015 (3) October 2015 (1) August 2015 (1) July 2015 (1) June 2015 (1) May 2015 (3) April 2015 (2) March 2015 (1) February 2015 (4) January 2015 (2)
The IICRR is a Research Centre based in Dublin City University.