The Department of Government, UCC, in partnership with the Centre for Study of Wider Europe in NUI Maynooth is delighted to announce an upcoming conference ‘Reflections on Forty Years of Irish Membership of the EU’ in University College Cork, 28-29 November 2013.

The conference is bringing together leading figures from the worlds of academia, politics, civil society, business and the media to consider Ireland’s forty year relationship with the EU. The keynote address: ‘A Mixed Blessing? Reflections on Forty Years of Irish Membership of the EU‘ will be delivered by Professor Desmond Dinan, George Mason University, Washington.

Contributors include former Government Ministers – Alan Dukes, Micheal Martin and Dick Spring. Former MEPs Mary Banotti, John Cushnahan, Barry Desmond, Avril Doyle and Patricia McKenna will also share their reflections on representing Irish interests in Brussels. Senior Irish diplomat Bobby McDonagh will present his perspective on Ireland’s relationship with the EU. Journalists Ann Cahill (Irish Examiner), Paddy Smyth (Irish Times) and Sean Whelan (RTE) will reflect on their experiences of reporting the EU and key civil society interests, including Pat Ivory (IBEC) and David Begg (ICTU) will outline their views on Ireland’s EU experience. Academic participants are drawn from disciplines including political science, economics and law. Key themes for discussion include the history of Ireland’s journey towards EU membership and the impact of the EU on the Irish political system, economy, public policy and national identity.

The event will also mark the re-launch of the Irish Association for Contemporary European Studies (IACES). IACES aims to bring together European Studies scholars and practitioners from across the island of Ireland to foster collaboration, source funding, and disseminate scholarly research on European Integration and membership of the EU. The association will also seek to contribute to future public and political discussion on the question of Ireland’s EU membership.

All details about the conference including the themes, speakers and the keynote address are available here: http://www.ucc.ie/en/government/events/. All are welcome to attend but prior registration is required. Those interested in attending should mail reflectionsconf2013@ucc.ie to reserve a place. Further queries can be addressed to Mary C. Murphy, Department of Government, UCC (email:maryc.murphy@ucc.ie).

Funding for this event is being provided by the Communicating Europe fund of the Department of the Taoiseach and by the European Commission’s Jean Monnet Programme.