Description
It has been 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement helped bring peace to Northern Ireland, but how stable is that peace today? Join our panel as they discuss the legacy of this historic deal and what it means to the people of Northern Ireland and their future.
In April 1998, the historic deal brought an end to thirty years of bloodshed. It was lauded worldwide as an example of an iconic peace process to which other divided societies should aspire. Today, the country has avoided returning to the bloodshed of the past, but the peace that exists is troubled and far from secure. The Parliament at Stormont goes from crisis to crisis and society remains deeply divided.
This panel discussion, chaired by broadcast journalist Gerry Foley, includes David Donoghue, one of the Irish government’s negotiators who worked on the deal and author of One Good Day: My Journey to the Good Friday Agreement, and writer Kerri ní Dochartaigh, whose book Thin Places remembers her war-torn childhood during the Troubles.
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About the Speakers
David Donoghue
David Donoghue was one of the Irish government’s negotiators for the Good Friday Agreement. He served as Irish Ambassador in Russia, Germany and Austria, before being appointed Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN in New York. In this role he helped to facilitate the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. He retired from the Irish foreign service in 2017 but remains active in these issues.
Kerri ní Dochartaigh
Kerri ní Dochartaigh is a Northern Irish writer known for her nature writings. She has published in The Guardian, The Irish Times and elsewhere. Her first book, Thin Places, published in Spring 2021, provides an insight into her war-torn childhood growing up in a mixed Catholic-Protestant household during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and how she found peace in nature. Thin Places won the Butler Literary Award 2022, and was highly commended for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2021. Cacophony of Bone, out now, is her second book. She lives in the west of Ireland with her family.
About the Chair
Gerry Foley
Gerry Foley is a regular interviewer at book festivals across the UK. He’s been a broadcast journalist for decades, primarily at Westminster but also back in his native Ireland, both in Dublin and Belfast. Known for his versatility, Gerry has interviewed politicians, historians, novelists, scientists, judges, journalists, sports stars and comedians. He enjoys facilitating lively conversation between author and audience.
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