Our Subject

What roles did the EEC/EU institutions play in bringing about the peace process in Northern Ireland in the late twentieth century? How active were Liberals in making the peace process possible? What lessons can be learned from Brexit, which affects the whole of Ireland ? Does the example of Northern Ireland provide lessons for conflict resolution and peace-building elsewhere?

Our Speaker

Leader of the Alliance Party from 1987 Lord Alderdice played a significant role in the negotiation of the 1998 Good Friday agreement going on to become first Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly. In 2004 he was appointed to the independent Monitoring Commission tasked by the British and Irish Governments with security normalisation and the closing down of terrorist activity in Northern Ireland. He became president of Liberal International, (the global federation of more than 100 liberal political parties and now President d’Honneur) he was also Chairman of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords during the Coalition years. Recipient of many international awards, he has written and lectured widely around the world on political violence and is currently Executive Chairman of the Changing Character of War Centre at Pembroke College Oxford, a Senior research fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford and a Professor of Practice.

About the John Stuart Mill Institute Founded in 1992 by leading Liberals, the John Stuart Mill Institute (JSMI) stands for the freedom of the individual, supports responsible democratic participation and seeks to develop a tradition of thought on political, economic and social issues relevant to the 21st century. Since 2022 the JSMI has been working closely with the Social Liberal Forum. The Institute is a registered charity. More information about the JSMI can be found on its website at info@jsmi.org.uk