Harri Holkeri Lectures
President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins visited Queen's to deliver the Sixth Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture, organised by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.
The President gave his speech on the twentirth anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, built around the concepts of ‘remembering, forgiving, forgetting, and imagining’.
Acting Director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s, Professor John Brewer said: “The Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture is one of the significant events in the calendar of the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute and there is no public figure more prominent this year to grace the Lecture than President Higgins.
The lecture was organised by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s in partnership with the Embassy of Finland.
The Harri Holkeri Lecture Series recognises and celebrates the contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process of the late Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri. Holkeri’s aspiration to transform conflict and promote social justice in Northern Ireland and across the world is shared by the Institute.
In his lecture – Peace Process – In light of Brexit Issues – on Tuesday 21 May, in a packed Canada Room/Council Chamber, Mr Ahern spoke about the current political situation in Northern Ireland, Brexit and 21 years on from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.