IIEA Talks

The Horn of Africa continues to be profoundly marked by political instability, conflict, and humanitarian crises. As the war in Sudan continues through its fourth year, longstanding tensions across the region intersect with geopolitical rivalries, against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East, and the increasing relevance of the Red Sea to global trade and European security and economic...

Ireland’s Energy Insecurity Description Security of energy supplies has always been vital for all economies, at least since the industrial revolution. In an era in which international trade is being weaponised more frequently, Ireland’s high dependence on energy imports is a growing vulnerability. This is, all the more so, in the context of a European security environment which has deteriorated ma...

Neale Richmond is Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for International Development and Diaspora. He previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, and as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibil...

As Ireland prepares to take on its EU Presidency, beginning in July 2026, this panel will discuss the evolving agenda on EU enlargement. Against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and a renewed accession momentum, this discussion, which brings together perspectives from Dublin and Brussels, will assess the strategic, institutional, and political challenges facing the Union and enlargement. Pan...

Dr. Alice Edwards is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture — the first woman to hold the mandate in its 40-year history. She has documented human rights violations and advocated for justice, rehabilitation and peace on behalf of victims and survivors in major wars, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Mozambique, Russia-Ukraine, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and Pales...

'China Shock 2.0' In this edition of IIEA Insights, three experts discuss the future direction of EU-China relations. Tensions between Brussels and Beijing are rising as EU exports to China fall, while the volume of Chinese goods entering the EU grows rapidly. Efforts by the EU to address these imbalances – often the result of subsidies given to Chinese firms and the absence of a level-playing fie...

In this event, Mr Manuel Mateo Goyet provides an overview of the recently published Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA). The CADA seeks to strengthen Europe’s sovereignty and competitiveness in the cloud and AI ecosystem by boosting Europe’s ecosystem, investment and infrastructure. It aims to ensure that Europe can meet demands for data centre, cloud and computing capacity to meet the needs of bu...

In his keynote address, Minister Timcho Mucunski reflects on EU enlargement and North Macedonia’s European path at a decisive moment for Europe ahead of Ireland’s forthcoming EU Presidency. He addresses the need for a credible, merit-based accession process and the strategic imperative of integrating the Western Balkans in the EU at a time of geopolitical uncertainty. Timcho Mucunski is the Minist...

Digital policy has emerged as one of the most contentious of policy areas in EU-US relations. Many EU digital policy developments have met with vocal US opposition – including Europe’s pursuit of digital sovereignty, what the US administration perceives as the over-regulation of US firms, the preferencing of European solutions, and EU content moderation rules. Meanwhile in Europe, concerns about p...

European integration has driven a wide range of social policy developments in Ireland and across Europe over the past fifty years – including rules relating to equality of opportunity, inclusion, fair working conditions, and social protections. However, since the 1990s, EU activity in the social realm has slowed. Today, the existence of a coherent ‘European social model’ in the enlarged EU has bee...

Food crises are not anomalies — they are recurring and predictable. COVID-19, Ukraine, the Middle East conflict, and now El Niño forming on the horizon: each shock travels the same transmission channels, driving up input costs, and hitting small-scale farmers first and hardest. These farmers produce a third of the world's food, including up to 70% of the food in Africa, and they operate with thin...

Ferit Hoxha is a career diplomat with over 35 years of experience in the foreign service of the Republic of Albania. Since March 2026, he has been serving as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Mr Hoxha has had a distinguished and extensive career in multilateral diplomacy and international relations, representing the Republic of Albania at the highest international levels. He has served as A...

European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela, is responsible for the Global Gateway, the EU’s strategy for stronger partnerships, and sustainable development. With Ireland’s 2026 EU Council Presidency about to begin, this event will explore how Irish businesses, policymakers, and civil society can engage with EU-backed financing while adjusting to ongoing geopolitical shifts...

Jon Burrows MLA, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, delivers a keynote address entitled: "Peace is No Longer Enough: Delivering Prosperity and Opportunity for All in Northern Ireland". This event is in collaboration with the John and Pat Hume Foundation. Jon Burrows was selected as the UUP MLA for North Antrim in August 2025. He brings to the Assembly experience from a career in policing and has...

A joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, followed by Iranian retaliation against U.S. military assets, Israel and other U.S. allies, has engulfed much of the Middle East in a conflict with global repercussions. Israel and the United States campaign’s immediate aim was to decapitate the Islamic Republic’s leadership, and it quickly achieved this goal. But the broader objectives of the operation are sti...

'The Making of Foreign Policy' In this edition of IIEA Insights two former foreign policy advisors – Ben Judah in the UK and Thomas Wright in the US – will recount their respective experiences of policy formulation, including the roles of advisors, civil servants, and political leaders, and how those roles have changed over time, if at all. They will also give personal views on the current state o...

Isabelle Pérignon, a French national, is Director for Consumer Policy at the European Commission since October 2023. She was for four years (2019-2023) the Deputy Head of Cabinet of the former Commissioner for Justice. Before this position, she worked as Head of Unit for Procedural criminal law at the European Commission. Ms Pérignon was also a member of the Cabinet of several Commissioners, inclu...

In Dr Julie Norman’s address to the IIEA, she discusses her new co-authored book, entitled Gaza: The Dream and the Nightmare. Dr Norman and Maia Carter Hallward tell the story of Gaza from its early foundations, across decades of occupation, to the horrors of 7 October 2023 and the devastation of the subsequent war. Rather than focusing on elites or abstract politics, at the book's heart are ordin...

Full event title: "Ukraine’s Path to the EU in the Time of Ireland’s Presidency: Defending Democracy and Shaping Europe’s Security Future" Oleksandr Korniyenko serves as the First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, a role he has held since October 2021. Mr Korniyenko is the Head of the Servant of the People Party and has been a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament since 2019. In Decemb...

In light of an increasingly volatile world order, the future of the European security architecture is back on the agenda and seems more pressing than at any point in recent history. After decades of reduced military spending across Europe, recent developments from Ukraine, over Greenland and from the Middle East as well as the rifts in the Transatlantic partnership have prompted European states to...

A year of hard geopolitics has exposed Europe’s position between the world's two superpowers, with neither treating the European Union as a central player. This discussion examines where EU–China ties really stand, why the predicted détente never materialised after Trump’s return, and how Brussels is trying to balance economic interests with China with growing concerns over security and trade imba...

As Europe faces unprecedented geopolitical challenges, from the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion to a volatile situation in the Middle East and shifting transatlantic relations and power competition, a strong and united European Union is in our key interest. During the upcoming Irish EU Presidency, the focus will be on how member states can ensure unity and security, defend our v...

Join us for an urgent and thought-provoking discussion with ICRC Director-General Pierre Krähenbühl on the alarming rise in global conflicts and their profound humanitarian consequences. With over 130 active conflicts worldwide, more than double the number recorded just 15 years ago, war is no longer the exception but an increasingly normalized tool of dispute. From the devastating escalation in t...

The European Union and the Sahel have longstanding ties. Yet, as both sides experience significant transformations, and as geopolitical challenges abound, the context and nature of EU-Sahel relations have fundamentally changed. Today’s geopolitical environment is marked by the growing role of military actors in politics, widespread security concerns, acute fragility, the reconfiguration of regiona...

Recent global trade volatility and geopolitical instability have highlighted how Europe’s prosperity, autonomy and security can be exposed to global shocks and render Europe vulnerable. In this event, Olof Gill, Deputy Chief Spokesperson of the European Commission and Spokesperson for Trade, Economic Security & Customs, discusses the EU’s efforts to navigate geopolitical turbulence and major trade...