IIEA Talks

Northern Ireland’s governing institutions have been at a political impasse since the DUP collapsed Stormont in February 2022, and the Windsor Framework has, thus far, failed to bring about the restoration of the Assembly and Executive as both London and Brussels had hoped. Since the most recent collapse of Stormont, the Alliance Party has made electoral gains at both Assembly and local government...

In this third installment of the 2023 REthink Energy series, co-organised by the IIEA and ESB, Laura Sandys, CBE, describes the architecture of the new, decarbonised energy system: distributed in nature, disruptive in character, and requiring a new way of delivering stability, resilience and cost reductions for consumers. She speaks about the digitalisation that lies at the heart of the new energy...

'Woke: historical origins and political implication' Susan Neiman, American Philosopher, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist

According to Dr Kaim, strategies are tricky things: flowery words describe the big picture and in the end, no one really knows what these words actually mean in practice. This is how many of the 76 pages of the first German National Security Strategy read. The Scholz government has not developed any fundamentally new guidelines for its foreign and security policy – it has written down what it has...

In this interview, IIEA Researcher, Leanne Digney, talks to Ireland’s United Nations Youth Delegates, David Giles and Jessica Gill, about their experience of writing the first standalone youth chapter in a Voluntary National Review, which was included in Ireland’s 2023 VNR report at the UN High-level Political Forum in July 2023. This interview is part of the Global Europe UN podcast series which...

In his remarks, Mehmet Öğütçü reflects upon Turkey’s elections on 14 and 28 May 2023 and the implications which Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s winning yet another mandate to run the country for the next five years may have for Europe. He examines whether there is any prospect of resetting EU-Turkey relations and what could be done to improve the dialogue between Brussels and Ankara on key issues such as e...

Prof. Gerard Quinn, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, discusses Ireland’s obligations, strengths, and shortcomings, under international human rights treaties, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which was adopted by the United Nations in 2006. The UNCRPD is the first international, legally binding instrume...

In this interview, IIEA Researcher, Leanne Digney, talks to the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, Ms Siobhán Mullally, about the mandate of her office and the major challenges in the fight against human trafficking today. This interview is part of the Global Europe UN podcast series which is sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs

In his address to the IIEA, Charles Dunst discusses his new book, Defeating the Dictators: How Democracy Can Prevail in the Age of the Strongman. Mr Dunst explores the dangers of rising authoritarianism and outlines the steps that democracies can take to rebuild trust, restore accountability, improve governance, and build a better future for generations to come. He also outlines how democracies ca...

Asylum and Migration policy has been at the forefront of the EU agenda as negotiations have commenced on some key aspects of the new Asylum and Migration Pact. Since the proposal was tabled, in September 2020, considerable progress has been made, although discussions at the recent European Council Meeting were inconclusive. The desire for a rational fact-based approach to the topic can only be ach...

In her address, Anne Bajart discusses the European Commission’s activities and initiatives to promote digital skills. She focuses the Commission’s plans to promote skills for key areas such as AI (artificial intelligence), data, cybersecurity, semi-conductors and AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) technologies. Ms Bajart also discusses the role of the European Jobs and Skills Coalitio...

Lord Paul Bew, Member of the House of Lords; Ben Lowry, Editor-in-chief of the Belfast Newsletter, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist.

Military neutrality has long held an important place in the Irish national psyche with polls consistently showing strong support for the concept. This support has remained solid even in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, an invasion which caused some other neutral EU countries to seriously evaluate their security stances. In his remarks, Conor Gallagher shares his v...

Around the world, governments, communities and individuals are struggling to come to terms with one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change. In the second installment of the 2023 REthink Energy lecture series, which is co-organised by the IIEA and ESB, renowned environmentalist and prolific author, Bill McKibben, shares his insights into how the negative impacts of anthropocentric c...

For centuries, indigenous peoples around the world have been the guardians of the world’s bio and cultural diversity with their wisdom and unique knowledge. Today, they care for more than 20% of the planet’s land and 80% of its biodiversity. In her address to the IIEA, United Nations SDG Advocate and Environment and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Activist, Hindou Ibrahim, will discuss the indispensabl...

As a founding member of the United Nations, Canada’s commitment to multilateralism is the cornerstone of that country’s foreign policy. As the globe faces a confluence of multiple crises, UN member states, such as Canada and Ireland, have called for a recommitment to the UN Charter, and for necessary UN reforms to achieve a United Nations that is effective, efficient, relevant and accountable. As...

In this podcast, IIEA Director of Research, Dr. Barry Colfer, interviews Marion Jammet, member of the IIEA’s Climate and Energy Working Group and Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Irish Green Building Council. They discuss her recent IIEA paper ‘The Co-Benefits of an Energy Efficiency in an Irish Context’ which provides an analysis of the wide range of direct and indirect co-benefits of energy ef...

A united Ireland is among the most contentious issues in Irish and Northern Irish politics. At times during the past century, the idea united Ireland has seemed impossible or been dismissed as romantic but unrealistic. However, in recent years, the outcome of the Brexit referendum, changing demographics in Northern Ireland, and the electoral success of nationalism in Northern Ireland’s most recent...

Drawing on IFAD’s 45 years of hands-on experience in agriculture and rural development, IFAD President Alvaro Lario outlines how reshaping food systems around small-scale producers can limit global warming, regenerate ecosystems, and end poverty and hunger. While food production generates one-third of all greenhouse gases, drives biodiversity losses, and uses about 70 per cent of the world’s fresh...

In this interview, IIEA Researcher, Leanne Digney, talks to the UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, about the mandate of her office and the major challenges in this sphere today. This interview is part of the Global Europe UN podcast series which is sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Please note that due to the virtual nature of this inter...

Maintaining competitiveness is vital for a highly open economy such as Ireland’s. In his first public address since stepping down as CEO of IDA Ireland, Martin Shanahan discusses Ireland’s current environment as a location in which to do business and its future outlook. He also discusses key trends in global foreign direct investment, and the opportunities and threats these trends present for the...

'World Trade Disorder?' Keith Rockwell, Former Director of Information and External Relations at the World Trade Organisation, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist.

According to David Henig, after the turmoil of Brexit culminating in the short period of Liz Truss as Prime Minister, UK politics appears to have stabilised to a degree under Rishi Sunak, with the Windsor Framework and likely accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) being clear successes. Underlying issues around the Brexit settlement are howev...

On 27 June, the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee will vote on a hugely significant piece of legislation, which will have far-reaching implications for Irish farming, agriculture and land use. The Nature Restoration Regulation, which aims to restore Europe’s degraded ecosystems, could also have major political implications for Ireland. In this keynote address, Senator Pippa Hackett, Minister of...

As a close aide to Michel Barnier, Stefaan de Rynck had a ringside seat to the Brexit negotiations. His new book, Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done (Agenda Publishing), tells the story of Brexit from a Brussels perspective and charts the changing negotiating positions and obstacles that shaped the final deal. Mr de Rynck argues that the EU controlled the Brexit process from the outset. I...