Art of Conflict Transformation Spring 2023 Event Series

Event Series Keynote by Anne Carr (bio)

• Negotiating team member & elected representative (‘97-‘01)
• Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition political party
• International Fund for Ireland board member
• Community Dialogue facilitator

Anne Carr’s keynote will look at the role of women prior to the talks process - in campaigning for the ceasefires, supporting victims and survivors of the conflict, and challenging sectarianism that contributed formidably to making a talks process and eventual Agreement possible.

She will discuss the challenges to equal participation in the talks the NIWC faced and key contributions they made. Her expertise in peacebuilding from grassroots through international negotiation will shed light on what remains to be addressed amidst both a shared and contested future.

Ann Carr @ Agreement, April 10, 1998

Some women on the Women's Coalition team, Stormont 1998

Video recording of event on April 10, 2023 @ 1-2:00pm EDST

Campus Center Lower Level @ the mural
One Campus Center Way, Amherst, MA 01003 (map)

Speakers

• Dr. John Kennedy, Vice Chancellor for University Relations, University of Massachusetts Amherst (bio) 
• Dr. Peter Abbott, OBE, British Consul General to New England (bio)
• Dr. Laoise Moore, Consul General of Ireland to New England (bio)
• Danny Devenny, muralist and former Irish Republican Army prisoner (bio) 
• Mark Ervine, British loyalist muralist (bio) 
• Dr. Leah Wing, faculty, Legal Studies Program, Department of Political Science (bio)

The mural was painted in 2010 by members of the UMass community and two of the leading muralists during the North/Northern Ireland conflict and transition to peace: Danny Devenny, an ex-Irish Republican Army political prisoner and Mark Ervine, British loyalist, whose father served in the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force and was a negotiator on their behalf for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. 

Thanks for grant funding from the Mass Cultural Council 

Leading public figures in academia, journalism, and the community sector will explore the implications of the peace accord, Brexit, demographic shifts and a growing momentum for holding a referendum on a United Ireland that has become a vibrant topic of public engagement and debate. 

Video recording of event on May 4, 2023 @ 4-5:30pm EDST

Colin Harvey (bio)  
Professor of Human Rights Law, School of Law, Queens University, Belfast 

Sarah Creighton (bio)  
Freelance writer 

Claire Hackett (Participating moderator) (bio)  
Board of Directors, Healing Through Remembering 
Manager, Peacebuilding & Good Relations, Falls Community Council