IICRR hosted a seminar in Dublin City University to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement on Northern Ireland on Friday 6th April, 10am to 4pm. The seminar explored the international significance of the Good Friday Agreement and the on-going challenge of conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding internationally. The overall focus of the seminar was the international significance of some of the key features of the Good Friday Agreement, and its relevance in other contexts looking at issues such as:
- All-party talks without exclusions
- An open ended process with no party being asked to abandon ultimate political goals if pursued by peaceful means
- The role of mediation / incentives
- Power-sharing
- Structured cross border cooperation etc.
The full programme is available to download (PDF)
Speakers included:
- Bertie Ahern, former Taoiseach, who led the Irish Government delegation at the talks
- Atifete Jahjaga, former President of Kosovo. She served as the third President of Kosovo, was the first female President of the Republic of Kosovo, the first non-partisan candidate and the youngest female head of state to be elected to the top office. Previously she served as Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police, holding the rank of Major General, the most senior among women officers in Southeastern Europe.
- Mark Levine (University of California at Irvine), international expert on Palestine
- Bronagh Hinds (Democrashe) co-founder of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition
- Yaser Alashqar (Trinity College Dublin), on the relevance of the Irish peace process for Israel and Palestine
- John Doyle, Director IICRR, (Dublin City University) on the relevance of the Irish peace process for Kashmir