Northern Ireland

Ireland's ambassador to UN to deliver John Hume lecture

Ireland's ambassador to the United Nations, Geraldine Byrne Nason will deliver this year's John Hume lecture at the Patrick MacGill School. Picture by Department of Foreign Affairs.
Ireland's ambassador to the United Nations, Geraldine Byrne Nason will deliver this year's John Hume lecture at the Patrick MacGill School. Picture by Department of Foreign Affairs. Ireland's ambassador to the United Nations, Geraldine Byrne Nason will deliver this year's John Hume lecture at the Patrick MacGill School. Picture by Department of Foreign Affairs.

Ireland’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason will deliver the annual John Hume Lecture at the MacGill School in Donegal next week.

This year’s school, which will also feature keynote addresses from Taoiseach Micheál Martin and former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, will take place virtually from October 27 to 29.

Now in its 41st year, the school was established in honour of author, journalist and social commentator, Patrick MacGill from Glenties. The school attracts key leaders to comment on issues critical to Ireland and Europe. The annual John Hume lecture was established in 2001 in tribute to the former SDLP leader who passed away last year.

School director, Joe Mulholland said the fact that this year’s forum was online would not stop it being relevant.

“MacGill will, as it usually does, look to the future, not to a return to ‘normality’ as we know it, but to a different way of living our relatively short lives on a planet which, according to our scientists, is under severe threat unless mankind urgently changes its attitudes and habits,” Mr Mulholland said.

The theme for this year’s school is “A Threatened Planet: Recovery from the pandemic must be built on new value and a new vision”. Further information is available at www.macgillsummerschool.com.