President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins delivered the Sixth Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture

The sixth annual Harri Holkeri Lecture, organised by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, and co-sponsored by the Finnish Government, took place on 29th of May at the Queens University in Belfast. Lecture series is organised to mark the contribution to building peace in Ireland of the late Finnish Prime Minister, Harri Holkeri.

President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins delivered the Sixth Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture at Queen’s University Belfast this May. The President gave his speech on the twentirth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, built around the concepts of ‘remembering, forgiving, forgetting, and imagining’.

The Harri Holkeri Lecture Series is organised by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. It recognises and celebrates the contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process of the late Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri. Holkeri’s aspiration to transform conflict and promote social justice in Northern Ireland and across the world is shared by the Institute. 

Acting Director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s, Professor John Brewer said: “The Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture is one of the significant events in the calendar of the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute and there is no public figure more prominent this year to grace the Lecture than President Higgins."

“Coming in the year of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and at a time of political uncertainty in Europe, there is much to be said that honours the peacebuilding efforts of the late former Finnish Prime Minister and statesman, Harri Holkeri. President Higgins is a thoughtful and incisive speaker and we have much to learn from his lecture”, he continued. 

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Queen’s University Belfast: President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins delivers Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture at Queen's(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) (inc. President Higgins' full speech and podcast of the event)