Shared Future: Building and Sustaining Peace, the Northern Ireland case study
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The 2012 Irish OSCE Chairmanship will host a high level conference in Dublin on 27 April, entitled ‘Shared Future: Building and Sustaining Peace, the Northern Ireland case study.’ The conference will present the experience of achieving a peaceful political settlement in Northern Ireland (generally known at the Good Friday Agreement) as a case study of possible relevance to conflict resolution efforts in the OSCE area and elsewhere.
This is the first time the Irish Government will host an international conference of this kind on the subject of the Northern Ireland peace process. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, Eamon Gilmore, will host the event, which will take place in the historic setting of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin. It will bring together a broad range of senior political figures with first-hand experience of the peace process to share their experience with OSCE participating States.
The conference will be moderated by the former President of Finland and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martti Ahtisaari, who will bring his unique experience of conflict resolution and mediation to bear on discussions. Former US Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement, will also speak at the conference.
The opening session of the conference was streamed live on this website, and the video can now be viewed on the live video page. This session will examine the political process which led to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and the processes and institutions which have sustained it. The speakers at this session will be Irish Deputy Prime Minister Gilmore; First Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive, Peter Robinson; Deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive, Martin McGuinness; and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson. OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier will also speak during the opening session.
This is a unique opportunity to hear from those involved in making the Good Friday Agreement work. Speakers’ remarks from this and other sessions will also be made available on this website.