Dr. Martin Mansergh in Cyprus at a Symposium on the Irish Peace Process
News
04 May 2017Dr Martin Mansergh
University of Nicosia, UNESCO amphitheatre,
4 May 2017, 6-9pm
Ireland and Cyprus have much in common, beyond being two small islands on opposite peripheries of Europe. We both have a special relationship with the UK, rendered more complex by the prospect of Brexit. Internally, we have addressed the issues posed by a divided island and the tensions between communities emanating from the division.
As part of the effort to inform the Cypriot public, opinion-formers and politicians about wider dimensions to settlement negotiations, drawing in particular on experience elsewhere, the Diplomatic Academy has invited Dr Martin Mansergh, an Irish politician and academic with direct experience, of such negotiations, to Nicosia.
Dr Martin Mansergh, himself the son of an eminent Cambridge historian, Nicholas Mansergh OBE, is a graduate of Christ Church, Oxford, where he completed his Ph.D. on pre-revolutionary France.
After a period in the Irish Foreign Service, he served as personal representative of the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) in contacts and negotiations on Northern Ireland, in a process which culminated in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. He will share with us insights drawn from his close-up engagement with the peace process and highlight potential resonances with the situation here in Cyprus.
The format for this event, conducted in English, jointly organised by the Diplomatic Academy of the University of Nicosia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, will be introductory remarks by representatives of the Diplomatic Academy and the Foreign Ministry, including Ambassador Andreas Mavroyiannis, Negotiator for the Greek Cypriot community in the Cyprus talks, and a former Ambassador of Cyprus to Ireland. Dr Mansergh will then deliver his keynote address, followed by a panel discussion with distinguished journalists. There will then be an opportunity for Q&A with members of the audience.