EFACIS 2013 Conference: 'Towards 2016: Old and New Irelands'
Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:00:00 IST - Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:00:00 IST, 00:00
At Arts Millennium Building and Huston School of Film and Digital Media
Organised by Huston School of Film & Digital Media
A major Irish studies conference at NUI Galway will consider the legacy of the 1916 Rising for contemporary Ireland. For the first time, the European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies (EFACIS) conference will be held in Ireland running from 5-8 June. EFACIS is one of the largest Irish Studies organisations in Europe and represents almost 500 members in over 20 countries. The federation was founded to promote interest in and support the expansion of Irish Studies throughout Europe, encouraging study and debate of all aspects of society, culture and literature of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Irish diaspora within the humanities and social sciences. Hosted by NUI Galway, this year’s conference will consider the theme ‘Towards 2016: Old and New Irelands’ and has already attracted considerable interest with almost 200 delegates due to attend. Keynote speakers will include; Diarmaid Ferriter, Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin; Dr Alan Ahearne, NUI Galway Lecturer, Economist and former Special Advisor to former Irish Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan; and award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer and investigative journalist, Peter Taylor. In an address entitled ‘Scrambling for the bones of the Patriot Dead: The Irish Revolution (1912-22) and the politics and culture of memory and commemoration’, Professor Ferriter will examine some of the issues involved in the decade of commemorations (2012-22) from the perspective of the historian, but also the questions it raises for society at large in terms of what is remembered, how it is remembered and communicated. Dr Ahearne will consider the relevance today of a central concern of the 1916 Proclamation, Irish sovereignty, given that the largest chunks of economic sovereignty were willingly ceded when the country joined the EEC and especially when it adopted the single currency. Peter Taylor of the BBC and one of the most experienced and respected journalists to have reported on Northern Ireland and the maker of several acclaimed documentaries on the Troubles in Northern Ireland, will screen and talk about some of his documentary work dealing with the Troubles. Taylor will be joined in this discussion by Shauna Duddy and Larry Duddy, who took part in his acclaimed 2008 documentary The Secret Peacemaker, which dealt with their father Brendan Duddy’s secret role as the key intermediary between the British government and the IRA over a span of more than twenty years. The conference will also include public interviews with Oscar-winning film director and novelist Neil Jordan; award-winning novelist and playwright Patrick McCabe; and theatre director and Druid Theatre co-founder Garry Hynes. Dr Seán Crosson, Conference Director and Lecturer with NUI Galway’s Huston School of Film & Digital Media, said: “We are delighted to be hosting what will be largest EFACIS conference held to date. We are also pleased that such a strong and interdisciplinary group of speakers have agreed to participate, including in our plenary sessions, which covers areas from film, to theatre, literature, history, economics, music, politics and the media. A recurring concern of the papers, as the conference title suggests, is the legacy of the revolutionary period for contemporary Ireland today as we approach the centenary of the 1916 Rising.” Among the themes considered during the conference will be the Irish Economic Crisis; Northern Ireland: Literature, Politics and Culture; 1916 in literature and Culture; Revisiting Women’s Rights and Gender Equality; Marginal Spaces in Irish Film; Theatre and the 1916 Rising; Irish Sport, 1916-2016; and Ireland’s relationship with Europe. A full conference programme is attached. -ENDS- For further information visit www.conference.ie or contact Seán Crosson at sean.crosson@nuigalway.ie or 091 495687 Speaker Biography Neil Jordan: Born in 1950 in Sligo, Ireland, Neil began his career as a writer. His first book of stories, Night In Tunisia (1976) won the Guardian Fiction prize. Since then he has published five novels, The Past (1979), The Dream Of A Beast (1983), Sunrise With Seamonster (1994), Shade (2005). His most recent novel, Mistaken was published in early 2011. In 1982 Jordan wrote and directed his first feature film Angel. Since then he has written, directed and produced more than fifteen films, including Company of Wolves (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), The Crying Game (1992), Interview With The Vampire (1994), Michael Collins (1995), The Butcher Boy (1996), The End Of The Affair (1999), The Good Thief (2002), Breakfast On Pluto (2005) and Ondine (2009). His films have been honoured with numerous awards worldwide, including an Oscar, BAF TAs, Golden Globes, A Golden Lion from The Venice Film Festival and a Silver Bear from Berlin. He has been awarded five honorary doctorates and in 1996 he was appointed Officer of the French Ordres des Artes et des Lettres. Neil Jordan has more recently written, directed and produced the television series "The Borgias", with Octagon Films, and Showtime. His latest film Byzantium premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2012. Peter Taylor: Peter is one of the most experienced and respected BBC reporters and the maker of many acclaimed documentaries on the Troubles in Northern Ireland, on contemporary counter-insurgency and on the intelligence agencies. He is the author of nine books including three related books on the Troubles called Provos: The IRA and Sinn Féin, Loyalists, and Brits: The War against the IRA, which formed the basis for his television trilogy of the same name. He made groundbreaking programmes about Bloody Sunday, ‘Remember Bloody Sunday’ and the Maze prison, ‘Enemies Within’ as well as ‘The Secret Peacemaker’, a documentary about Brendan Duddy, the key intermediary between MI6 and MI5 and the IRA. Brendan's papers were donated to NUI Galway in 2009. Patrick McCabe: Playwright and novelist Patrick was born in 1955 in Clones, Co. Monaghan, Ireland. His short story The Call won the Irish Press Hennessy Award. He is the author of several novels, including The Butcher Boy (1992), a black comedy narrated by a disturbed young slaughterhouse worker, which won the Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Fiction; The Dead School (1995), an account of the misfortunes that befall two Dublin teachers; and Breakfast on Pluto (1998), the disturbing tale of a transvestite prostitute who becomes involved with Republican terrorists. The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. He is also the author of a children's book, The Adventures of Shay Mouse (1985), and a collection of linked short stories, Mondo Desperado, published in 1999. His play Frank Pig Says Hello, which he adapted from The Butc her Boy, was first performed at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 1992. A film adaptation of The Butcher Boy directed by Neil Jordan was first screened in 1996. His novel, Winterwood, was published in 2006, and was named the 2007 Hughes & Hughes/Irish Independent Irish Novel of the Year. His latest novels are The Holy City (2008) and The Stray Sod Country (2010). Garry Hynes: Born in Ballaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon in 1953, Garry moved to Galway with her family in 1965. In 1971 she started an Arts Degree (History & English) in University College Galway (now NUI Galway) and joined the college Drama Society. Fresh out of college in 1975, Druid was founded by Garry, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally, who came together to present a summer season of theatre. Druid has toured the length and breadth of Ireland and has toured extensively overseas making it one of the premier theatre companies in the English-speaking world. Throughout her career, Garry has received numerous awards, notably when in 1998 she made history on Broadway by becoming the first woman to win a Best Director Tony Award (the theatre industry’s equivalent of the Oscars) for her direction of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and in 2005 when she was the recipient of the Freedom of Galway City, the highest honour a city can bestow upon one of its citizen s. Outside of her work with Druid, Garry has worked with The Abbey (including as Artistic Director from 1991-1994) and Gate Theatres (Ireland) and internationally with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court in the UK, and with Second Stage, Signature Theater and Manhattan Theater Club in New York; and with The Kennedy Centre in Washington. Dr Alan Ahearne: An economics lecturer at NUI Galway, Dr Ahearne is also a Member of the Commission (Board) of the Central Bank of Ireland and is a research fellow at Bruegel. He served as Special Adviser to the former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan from March 2009 until March 2011. Previously, he worked as a Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Board. Dr Ahearne holds a PhD in economics from Carnegie Mellon University. Diarmaid Ferriter: Professor of Modern Irish History at UCD, Professor Ferriter’s books include The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000 (2004), Judging Dev: A Reassessment of the life and legacy of Eamon de Valera (2007) and Occasions of Sin: Sex and Society in Modern Ireland (2009). Hisnew book, Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s has just been published. He is a regularbroadcaster on RTE television and radio and contributes to a number of Irish newspapers.