Webinar, 16 October 2021
Our Paris-Dublin bilateral meeting took place by video conference, to mark the centenary of Ireland's independence, on Saturday 16 October, with the support of the Alliance Française of Dublin and in partnership with the MEI. The first part was devoted to "Two centuries of Franco-Irish friendship", while the second looked at the prospect of Irish reunification. After a welcome address by Jean-Paul DOGUET, the first part was given by Grace NEVILLE, who spoke on "The great famine and French opinion", followed by Pierre RANGER (University of Créteil), who spoke on "An Irish revolutionary in France: Maud Gonne and the nationalist international (1887-1914)", and finally Jean-Paul DOGUET, who spoke on "The difficult Franco-Irish relationship: the example of Montalembert". For the second part, entitled "Towards the reunification of Ireland", we first heard Christophe GILLISSEN, from the University of Caen-Normandie, on "French foreign policy and the unification of Ireland", followed by Pierre JOANNON (Royal Irish Academy) on "The reunification of Ireland: myth or reality? Finally, Stephen O'SHEA, Vice-Chairman of the Irish ME discussed "The new Irish reality after Brexit".
The outcome of this bilateral was very positive. Unfortunately, however, it is unlikely that we will be able to organise bilateral events for a long time to come, for the simple reason that the EMI has stopped organising its annual face-to-face meetings, which means that I can no longer make contact with EMI members in the various capitals.
