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The Second John Hume European ‘Spirit of Peace’ Lecture
John Hume was a committed and dedicated European, seeing the institutions and ethos of the European Union as models for peace, partnership and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. The John Hume ‘European Spirit of Peace’ Lecture recognises those who have demonstrated a strong commitment to European principles and values. The IIEA is honoured to host the second edition of the ‘European Spirit of Peace’ Lecture, which will be delivered by Prof. Brigid Laffan. David O’Sullivan, Director General of the IIEA, delivered the Inaugural ‘European Spirit of Peace’ Lecture in May 2021, and will chair this year’s event.
About the Speaker:
Brigid Laffan is Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute in Florence and was Director at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies until her retirement in August 2021. Previously, Prof. Laffan was Professor of European Politics at the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe) University College Dublin (UCD), and was Vice-President of UCD and Principal of the College of Human Sciences from 2004 to 2011. Prof. Laffan was the founding director of the Dublin European Institute at UCD from 1999 and in March 2004 she was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. Professor Laffan is one of Ireland’s leading public intellectuals and a globally recognised expert on European politics.
You can rewatch Prof. Brigid Laffan deliver the 2nd John Hume ‘European Spirit of Peace’ Lecture held at IIEA in Dublin on July 6th 2022. David O’Sullivan, Director General of the IIEA, chaired this year’s event.
Professor Laffan opened up with a quote from John Hume; ‘…anybody knows that if they’re going to declare war that there are going to be killing large, large numbers of human beings. Therefore, that should never be a method of solving a problem.’
She said the speed of response by EU was remarkable EU; “On the first day War returned to Europe – European Council on 24 February 2022 said ‘force and coercion to change borders has no place in the 21st century’.
The invasion of Ukraine was; “Russian Aggression & Russia bears ‘full responsibility’, Illegal & a violation of International law. Russia need to be held to account-war crimes.”
Professor Laffan said “Enlargement is not something that just happens in EU, it is intrinsic to the dynamic of European integration…..Ukraine is part of the European family”