Publication
Consultative Forum Programme
From Department of Foreign Affairs
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08.15am: Registration and networking
09.00am - 9.30am: Welcome by Professor John O'Halloran, President University College Cork
Opening remarks from Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin
Introduction by Louise Richardson DBE (Forum Chair).
09.40am-10.55am: Global security environment
What does the global security environment look like, in the context of Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, widespread violations of international law and IHL globally, fractured UN Security Council, breakdown of arms control treaties, new and emerging threats, climate change and increasing resource pressures? What does this mean for Ireland as a small state, which is not a member of a military alliance and with no mutual defence arrangements, and which is reliant on a rules-based international order and on a functioning global trade, energy and telecommunications ecosystem?
Moderator; Louise Richardson DBE, Forum Chair.
Renata Dwan, Senior Consulting Fellow, Chatham House
Brigid Laffan, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute
Neil Melvin, Director, International Security, RUSI
Réiseal Ní Chéilleachair, Head of International Advocacy, Concern
11.00am - 11.20am: Coffee break
11.30am- 12.30am: European security post-Russian invasion of Ukraine and implications for Ireland
The fundamental underpinnings of European collective security under the framework of the OSCE – sovereign equality, refraining from threat or the use of force, inviolability of frontiers, peaceful settlements of disputes, fulfilment in good faith of obligations under international law – have been comprehensively violated, first by the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 and of Crimea and the Donbas in 2014, and then by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. How, where and when can a new European collective security architecture be constructed? How does the breakdown or suspension of the strategic arms control treaties between the US and Russia impact on this security landscape?
Moderator: Suzanne Lynch, Chief Brussels Correspondent, Politico Europe
Patricia Lewis, Research Director, International Security, Chatham House
Andrew Cottey, Jean Monnet Chair, UCC
Kate Fearon, Deputy Director (Policy Support) of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre
Gary Murphy, Professor, School of Law and Government, DCU
1.00pm - 2.00pm: Lunch
2.10pm – 2.20pm: Welcome back after Lunch. Scene Setter: New and Emerging Threats – UN Youth Delegate, David Giles
2.25 – 3.40pm: New and emerging threats: Cyber security
Two years on from the attack on the HSE, what are the cyber threats that Ireland currently faces? How are we currently dealing with these threats and could we be doing so more effectively? What constitutes responsible State behaviour in cyber space and how should Ireland operate in this domain? What existing or potential partnerships can assist us? How can we predict and prepare for future cyber threats, including those arising from emerging and disruptive technologies?
Moderator: Richard Browne, Director National Security Centre (NCSC)
Robert McCardle, Director, Trend Micro
Chris Johnson, Pro-Vice Chancellor QUB, Engineering Faculty,
UK National Cyber Advisory Board
Richard Parker, Vice President, Cyber Security, Dell Technologies
Brigadier General Seán White, Director, Cyber Defence, EU
Military Staff
Catiríona Heinl, Executive Director, Azure Forum for
Contemporary Security Strategy
3.40-4pm: Coffee break
4.05pm – 5.20pm: New and emerging threats: Maritime security and Critical Infrastructure
Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone covers an area of 437,500km² and is home to fibre optic cables that carry some 97% of global communications as well as energy infrastructure for the island. The country is also home to a large number of global technology and pharma firms’ European headquarters and production facilities. What is the State’s role in protecting our critical infrastructure, bearing in mind our own needs and capabilities but also our responsibilities to other European and international partners? How are other partners, faced with similar challenges, responding? What existing or potential partnerships can assist us?
Moderator: Catiríona Heinl, Executive Director, Azure Forum For Contemporary Security Strategy
Brendan Flynn, School of Political Science and Sociology, University of Galway
Robert McCabe, Assistant Professor and Director, Maritime Security Programme at the Institute for Peace and Security, Coventry University
Christian Bueger, Professor of International Relations, University of Copenhagen, and Director, Safeseas network on Maritime security
Laura Brien, incoming CEO, Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA)
5.30pm-5.45pm: Day One Closing Remarks – Louise Richardson DBE
08.15am: Registration and networking
09.00am - 9.20am: Tánaiste, in Conversation with Louise Richardson DBE – reflections and introduction to day two
09.30am -10.45am: Ireland as a global actor: Lessons from Ireland’s UN Security Council membership
Ireland’s 2021/2022 term on the Security Council coincided with one of the most eventful periods in global security this century. Despite this, Ireland delivered some notable achievements on the Council, including on the Syria humanitarian file, on the EU Crisis Management Operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Operation Althea, on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and on securing a humanitarian carve out in all UN sanctions regimes. Nevertheless, Ireland’s time on the Council also saw multiple uses of the veto by Russia - to block progress on a Climate and Security initiative supported by a large majority of UN Member States, and to prevent the Council from acting or speaking in response to its brutal and illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We also saw the challenges in ensuring that mandates for UN peacekeeping operations are fit for purpose. What lessons can we draw from this experience for Irish foreign and security policy?
Moderator: Sonja Hyland, Deputy Secretary General and Political Director, Department of Foreign Affairs
Shane Ryan, First Secretary Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN
Edward Burke, Assistant Professor, History of Warfare, University College Dublin
Renata Dwan, Senior Consulting Fellow, Chatham House
10.50am-11.10am: Coffee break
11.15am–12.30pm: Ireland as a global actor: UN peacekeeping and the “Triple Lock”
Ireland has an unbroken record of continual service in UN peacekeeping since 1958. Ireland has also served in multiple UN-mandated missions including those that were EU-led and NATO-led. With the nature of peacekeeping, and threats to peacekeepers continuing to change what does this mean for Irish participation in UN, EU and NATO peacekeeping and crisis management missions? With no new peacekeeping missions approved by the UN Security Council since 2014, and the increasing use of the veto, notably by Russia, limiting the Council’s ability to comprehensively fulfil its mandate for the maintenance of international peace and security, what does this mean for Ireland’s ability to pursue an independent foreign policy? What implications does this have for the Triple Lock?
Moderator: Renata Dwan, Senior Consulting Fellow, Chatham House
Kieran Brennan, Major General (Retd)
Ray Murphy, Professor, Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway
Declan Power, Defence Analyst
Shamala Kandiah Thompson, Chief Operating Officer, Security Council Report
12.45pm - 1.45pm: Lunch
2.00pm - 3.15pm: Ireland as a global actor: Conflict resolution, peacebuilding, international law and accountability
Irish foreign policy is based on a commitment to upholding and promoting international law and a rules-based international order. Successive governments have prioritised the promotion of human rights, sustainable development, humanitarian action and international humanitarian law, conflict prevention and peacebuilding, peace keeping and crisis management, and disarmament and non-proliferation. How can Ireland best continue this work in an increasingly complex geo-political environment? What makes us good at this work and what are our limitations? Is there space for small countries in global conflict resolution and mediation in the current geo-political environment? What link does this engagement have to our wider security and defence policy?
Moderator: Siobhan Mullaly, Professor of Human Rights Law, University of Galway Máire Braniff, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Ulster University
Roger Mac Ginty, Professor in Defence, Development and Diplomacy, Durham University
Brigadier General David Dignam (Retd)
Major General (Retd) Michael Beary, Head of Mission for the United Nations Mission to support the Hudaydah Agreement
Fiona Nic Dhonnacha, Ireland’s Ambassador to Colombia
3.20pm - 3.40pm: Coffee break
3.45pm - 5.00pm: Irish research and innovation in security and defence
Irish research institutions and companies are involved in various areas of security and defence-related research and innovation. What does the current ecosystem in Ireland for this work look like and what are the main areas of focus? What partnerships are we involved in at EU level and how does the Irish research and enterprise sector interact with EU funding and research mechanisms, including the European Defence Agency and European Defence Fund? Do we have appropriate policy frameworks in place for this area of work? Is Irish industry positioned to avail of these opportunities?
Moderator: Bernie Maguire, Assistant Secretary General and Defence Policy Director, Department of Defence
Lokesh Joshi, Stokes Professor of GlycoSciences at University of Galway
Carlo Webster, Tyndall National Institute
Stephen O’Driscoll, SFI Challenge Research Team
Marie Gleeson, Simply Blue Group (Former Lieutenant Commander, Irish Naval Service)
5.00pm-5.15pm: Louise Richardson DBE - Day Two Closing Remarks
08.15: Registration and networking
08.45am- 9.00am: Louise Richardson DBE - Day Three Opening Remarks
09.00am-10.00am: Working with partners: An introduction to the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)
The EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) has evolved over recent decades, with the EU’s level of ambition in this area outlined in the 2022 Strategic Compass. What is Ireland’s current engagement with CSDP, including Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)? What does the EU’s mutual assistance clause (Article 42.7 TEU) mean in practice and how is it implemented? What is the European Peace Facility? What are the prospects of a European ‘common defence’ and what would the implications be for Ireland, given the provisions of Article 29 (4) 9 of the Constitution?
Moderator: Rory Montgomery, Honorary Professor, Mitchell Institute for International Peace, Justice and Security, Queens University Belfast
Stijn Mols, Head of Division, Security and Defence Policy, EEAS
Maura O’Sullivan, Chief of Staff, EU Advisory Mission Ukraine
Ken McDonagh, Associate Professor of International Relations, DCU
10.00am: Remarks by the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
10.20am-10.40am: Coffee break
10.45am-11.45am: Working with partners: Ireland’s role in the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)
Ireland has contributed positively to both military and civilian CSDP missions and operations across the globe since the mid-2000s. Ireland has also worked constructively with partners to support the evolution of EU CSDP policy, which is decided by consensus, including through PESCO, the EPF and the Strategic Compass, while respecting the particular character of its national security policy. Can and should Ireland do more to support EU CSDP, operationally and at the policy level? Given that EU CSDP policy is decided through consensus, is there scope for Ireland to have more of its foreign policy priorities reflected in CSDP missions and policies? Does the specific character of Ireland’s national security policy impact (positively and/or negatively) EU CSDP?
Moderator: Naomi O’Leary, Europe Correspondent, The Irish Times
John O’Brennan, Professor, Director, Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies
Martin Harrington, Senior Strategic Advisor, EU Advisory Mission Iraq
Cáit Moran, Ireland’s Ambassador to the Political and Security Committee of the European Union
Martin Butcher, Policy Advisor on Arms and Conflict, Oxfam International
11.45am- 12.45pm: Ireland’s engagement with NATO through Partnership for Peace
Ireland has been a member of Partnership for Peace (PfP) since 1999. Our partnership with NATO through this mechanism has principally focused on military capabilities and standards, focusing of ensuring effectiveness and interoperability, particularly in peacekeeping operations. At the Madrid Summit in 2022, NATO outlined a range of existing and new areas for partners to potentially engage in, including maritime security, cyber and hybrid, climate and security, and resilience and critical infrastructure. With Ireland currently negotiating an updated partnership framework (ITPP), what are the areas of mutual interest and relevance? How does the decision of Finland and Sweden to join NATO impact on European security and what are the implications for Ireland?
Moderator: Ken McDonagh, Associate Professor of International Relations, DCU
James Mackey, Director of Security Policy and Partnerships, NATO
Andrew Cottey, Professor, Jean Monnet Chair, UCC
Commander Roberta O’Brien, Irish Naval Service (currently on secondment to NATO Defence Capacity Building unit)
1.00pm-2.00pm: Lunch
2.15pm-3.30pm: Lessons from neighbours (Part 1): Norway and Switzerland
A long-standing NATO member, Norway also has an international reputation as a principled foreign policy actor, with a focus on human rights, conflict prevention and resolution, and sustainable development. Switzerland’s armed neutrality is founded on international law and is outlined in its constitution and in law. How has the Russian invasion of Ukraine impacted on the public debate in each of these countries and what has their response been to the changing security environment in Europe and to new and emerging threats?
Moderator: Sonja Hyland, Deputy Secretary General and Political Director, Department of Foreign Affairs
Norway:
Ine Eriksen Søreide, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence at the Storting (Norwegian Parliament)
Dag Nylander, Director of the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Switzerland:
Joachim Adler, Head of Defence Policy and Operations at the Federal Department for Defence
Laurent Goetschel, Professor of Political Science at the University of Basel and Director of Swissspeace
3.40pm - 4.00pm: Break
4.10pm-5.25pm: Lessons from neighbours (Part 2): Finland and Sweden
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 fundamentally changed Finland and Sweden’s security and defence policy, with both countries applying for NATO membership. How will Finland and Sweden balance their new NATO membership with a distinctive and wide-ranging foreign policy profile, not least as reflected at the United Nations and in other international fora. What has their response been to the changing security environment in Europe and to new and emerging threats?
Moderator: Shona Murray , Europe Correspondent, Euronews
Matti Pesu, Researcher in the Finnish Foreign Policy, Northern European Security, and NATO research programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Hanna Ojanen, Jean Monnet Professor at the University of Tampere, Finland
Johanna Sumuvuori, State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland 2019-2023
Sweden
Magnus Christiansson, Senior Lecturer at the Swedish Defence University
Anna Sundström, Secretary General, Olof Palme International Center
5.30pm-5.45pm: Louise Richardson DBE - Day Three Closing Remarks
08.15: Registration and networking
8.45am-9.00am: Louise Richardson DBE – Opening Remarks
09.10am-10.10am: Challenges to global peace and security: Considerations for the future
This session will provide an opportunity to take stock of the discussions over previous days and to further examine how the future global peace and security landscape is changing as well as how future trends in international security policy are likely to affect Ireland.
Moderator: Louise Richardson, Forum Chair
Michele Grifin, Executive Office of the UNSG
Dr Sergey Utkin, University of Southern Denmark
Dan Smith, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Dr Adam Eberhardt, Director, Centre for Strategic Studies, Warsaw
10.15am-11.15am: New and emerging threats: Hybrid threats and the rise of disinformation
The new and emerging threat landscape is a complex one for states to understand and effectively tackle. How are hybrid threats and the use of tactics such as disinformation, cyber-attacks and economic coercion evolving? The nature of such threats means that they typically fall below the level of warfare and are difficult to identify and attribute. How we build capacity to better understand and deter such threats? And what risks do these threats pose for Ireland and how best can we work with partners to confront them?
Moderator: Sinead O’Carroll, Editor, The Journal
Jane Suiter, Professor, School of Communications, DCU
Dr Victorija Rusinaité, Director, Research and Analysis Hybrid Centre of Excellence, Helsinki
Art O’Leary, CEO, Electoral Commission of Ireland
Ross Frenet, CEO Moonshot
11.20am-11.40am: Coffee break
11.45-1pm: Defence Forces capability development
The earlier sessions on the new emerging threats in the areas of cyber, hybrid, critical infrastructure and maritime security illustrate the breadth of areas from which such threats may emerge. In response to the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, the Government approved a move to ‘Level of Ambition 2’ (LOA2), as set out in the capability framework devised by the Commission. In response to the threats identified in the earlier sessions, which elements of the capability framework should be prioritised and what policy choices are needed to reach LOA2 by 2028?
Moderator: Eamonn Murtagh, Assistant Secretary General, Department of Defence
Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy, Assistant Chief of Staff, Defence Forces
Aileen Nolan, Director Emergency, Operations and Infrastructure Oversight, Department of Defence
Conor Kirwan, Capability Directorate, European Defence Agency
Dr Rory Finegan, Assistant Professor in the Military History & Strategic Studies, Maynooth University
1.15 - 2.15pm: Lunch
2.30pm - 2.50pm: Remarks by the Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan
3.00pm-4.00pm: Ireland’s military neutrality: a historical perspective
How did Ireland’s policy of military neutrality evolve, and how has it been defined over time? What are the similarities and differences between Ireland’s military neutrality policy and that of other European states? What does Irish military neutrality look like in practice? And what are our vulnerabilities and obligations as a neutral country, and what capabilities have we developed to meet these obligations?
Moderator: Conor Gallagher, Crime and Security Correspondent, Irish Times
Michael Kennedy, RIA Executive Editor, Irish Foreign Policy
David Murphy, Lecturer, Maynooth University
Dr Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid, Senior Lecturer in Modern Irish History, University of Sheffiled
4.05pm-5.20pm: Neutrality: definitions, options and implications
What are Ireland’s security policy options for the future? Is our current policy of military neutrality fit for purpose in the current global security environment? Do we need to define more clearly what we do, and do not, mean by military neutrality? If so, how should this be done, and what are the implications? What other security policy choices exist for Ireland and what would the implications of these be?
Moderator: Louise Richardson DBE
Roger Cole, founder and chairman of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA)
Brigid Laffan, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute
Dan O’Brien, Chief Economist, Irish Institute of International and European Affairs
5.30pm-6.00pm: Concluding Remarks by Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin
Closing by Louise Richardson DBE
Image: Louise Richardson headshot
Louise Richardson DBE is president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, the philanthropic foundation established by Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie. Previously, she served as vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and of the University of St. Andrews, and as executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
A native of Tramore, County Waterford, she studied history at Trinity College Dublin before earning her PhD in international relations at Harvard University, where she spent 20 years on the faculty of the Department of Government, teaching courses on international security and foreign policy. She currently serves on numerous advisory boards, including the Booker Prize Foundation and the Sutton Trust.
Richardson is recognized internationally as an expert on terrorism whose groundbreaking study, What Terrorists Want, is considered an essential classic in the field. She lectures widely to professional, media, and education groups, and has served on editorial boards for several journals and presses.
Richardson has been honored for the excellence of her teaching and scholarship with numerous awards, including the Centennial Medal bestowed by Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She is an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy, a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The recipient of nine honorary doctorates from universities worldwide, Richardson was awarded a damehood in 2022 for her services to higher education, in particular, broadening access to university among disadvantaged students, and for her work on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.