In her Fairfield University lecture, Ireland’s Deputy Consul General, Eimear Friel, will offer an insider’s look into the United Kingdom’s complicated withdrawal from the European Union.
"We hope that students and attendees walk away from this event with a heightened sense, not simply of how people are divided, but how they can be united."
— William Abbott, PhD, co-director of the Irish Studies program
Eimear Friel, Deputy Consul General at the Consulate General of Ireland, will offer insider knowledge and professional insights into the ongoing Brexit crisis during a free public lecture that will be held in Fairfield University’s Kelley Center presentation room on Thursday, October 3, 2019, at 7 p.m.
Ms. Friel, who has previously worked on Brexit with the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, will focus on the prospect of a “hard border” between the North and South of Ireland and its implications for North-South relations, among other aspects. After her presentation, she will participate in an audience Q&A led by Irish Studies program co-director and history professor William Abbott, PhD.
Dr. Abbott and fellow Irish Studies co-director Professor Marion White chose the topic of Brexit for this year’s lecture based on the subject’s topicality, relevance, and breadth.
“All over the globe, over the past two centuries, political boundaries have not matched linguistic, cultural, and religious boundaries,” Dr. Abbott explained. “Attempts by individual cultures to have their own, exclusive nation-states - either by breaking up the nation in which they exist or by dissolving the political boundaries that divide them - have led to many conflicts, and Northern Ireland, which exists within Great Britain, is a classic example.”
Dr. Abbott hopes that students and attendees walk away from the event with a heightened sense, not simply of how people are divided, but how they can be united.
“Divisions based upon politics, religion, culture, and economics can tear societies apart, but those societies can also find common ground in some areas that overcome the differences in others,” he said.
Guest lecturer Eimear Friel holds a BA in European Studies and an M.Phil in International Peace Studies from the University of Dublin and Trinity College. She first joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in October 2007. Afterwards, she worked on a human rights policy before being appointed Private Secretary to the Secretary General. She served as Private Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2015-2017 prior to taking up the position of Deputy Director for Brexit and North-South Cooperation in the Ireland, United Kingdom and Americas Division.
Brexit: The Irish and European Perspective is co-presented by Fairfield University's Irish Studies and International Studies program. For more information, contact Dr. Abbott at wmabbott@fairfield.edu or Professor White at mwhite@fairfield.edu.
