(l-r): Secretary General, Seán O Foghlú; Siobhan Allaeddini from California representing NUI Galway; and Gill Roe, Manager Education in Ireland. Siobhan Allaeddini and Siobhan Keenan have been selected as Student Ambassadors for NUI Galway. A new initiative by Education in Ireland, the Student Ambassador Programme is aimed at raising awareness of the quality of Irish degree and Study Abroad programmes, while also assisting and encouraging interested students as they embark on their applications. Californian Siobhan Allaeddini is a second year Arts student at NUI Galway, while Siobhan Keenan, from New Jersey, is in her second year of a Commerce degree at the University. Ireland is the ninth most popular destination in the world for American students because of its worldwide reputation for high quality education and for offering the warmest of welcomes to students from all over the world. The current batch of Student Ambassadors come from 16 States in the US and represent all seven Irish universities. Throughout the academic year, the Student Ambassadors share their experience and insights of life as a student in Ireland through blogs, articles and video posts, connecting prospective American students and their families with those already studying in Ireland. When these students return home they will from time to time work with Education in Ireland and the Irish universities at promotional events in their area. Education in Ireland is a government initiative aimed at promoting Irish higher education and English language schools overseas.  To check out the blog and learn more about Education in Ireland’s outreach to US high schools and universities, please visit http://blog.educationinireland.com/ or Education in Ireland USA on Facebook. -ENDS-

Two NUI Galway students, Annita Brady and John Campion, are among a select group of 30 candidate’s chosen to participate in the 2012 Washington Ireland Program (WIP). Each year, the successful candidates, who have shown a commitment to service and a track record of leadership, take part in an eight-week internship program in Washington DC. The programme aims to help the students to develop skills through work experience, educational opportunity, and hands-on citizenship both at home and in the US. A native of Drung, Co. Cavan, Annita Brady is a Postgraduate Diploma in Education student at NUI Galway. In 2011 she received an MA in Military History and Strategic Studies in NUI Maynooth. During her four years at NUI Maynooth, Annita played an active role in The Friends of Raphael’s Society as Chairperson for two years and now currently volunteers with the Galway Traveller Movement assisting with homework clubs. John Campion, a third-year Medical student from Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, is currently on clinical placement in Montpellier, France. At NUI Galway, he has instigated a special study module in Applied Adolescent Mental Health Promotion and is Founding President of NUI Galway Friends of Médecins Sans Frontières, who participated in the Rotaract Italy Roundtrip for Cultural Understanding in 2011. John has undertaken studies in French, Italian, Irish Sign Language, Arabic and Gaeilge and has previously worked with the Centre for Talented Youth, Ireland, as Instructor in Medicine and as Assistant Residential Coordinator. Commenting on the internship, John said: “I’m really looking forward to working in Washington. Several of its hospitals and research facilities are at the cutting edge of medical innovation; making breakthroughs that have a huge impact on diagnosis and treatment of illness globally, including here in Ireland. On top of that, this summer, the White House is determined, in the face of strong Republican opposition, to push ahead with implementing Obamacare, which aims to improve Americans’ access to healthcare services. For me, WIP will provide great insight into high-level experimental medicine and healthcare policy-making.” The WIP students are required to commit to a minimum of 30 hours of public service before their placement in Washington DC, and are encouraged to take on a new community service project. While in Washington DC the students will complete an extensive leadership curriculum with their peers – developing their leadership skills and learning from the leadership experiences of those in Global leadership positions. Students will also complete an individual internship. The program is supported by both Governments and the universities in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The internships include placements on Capitol Hill, government agencies and the private sector.  Previous students have interned in the offices of then US Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, former Presidential Candidate Senator McCain, at the Headquarters of the World Bank and at CNN. For more information visit www.wiprogram.org. -ENDS-

International experts on children’s rights will gather at NUI Galway on Monday, 14 May, for a symposium on a new UN protocol to strengthen the rights of children. In December, the UN General Assembly approved a Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, which will allow for individual children to submit complaints regarding specific violations of their rights under the Convention. The Convention was the last of the major UN human rights treaties to adopt such a mechanism and the Protocol is a major achievement for the protection of children’s rights. The event is being hosted by the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway.  According to the Centre’s Professor Ray Murphy: “Access to justice for children has traditionally proven challenging due to the invisibility of children, children’s lack of maturity and experience, as well as conflicts between children’s interests and those of adults. Cases taken by children have been rare and are overwhelming heard from the perspective of parents, as it is they who most frequently take the relevant cases.” The different needs of children have also been lost in the complaints mechanisms of the mainstream human rights instruments. The Committee on the Rights of the Child will hear cases with the guiding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in mind- the right to be heard, the best interest principle, non-discrimination and the right to life survival and development.” It is thought the new protocol will have wide-ranging implications for custodial issues, child slavery, education rights and discrimination issues. The Symposium, ‘Complaints to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – Opportunities for Ireland’, will hear from a number of speakers with experience in the field of children’s rights including Dr Maria Herczog, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; Veronica Yates, Child Rights International Network; Dr Geoffrey Shannon, Special Rapporteur to the Irish Government on Child Protection; Tanya Ward, Chief Executive, Children’s Rights Alliance; Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International and Dr Aoife Daly, University of Essex. Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives on the nature of the Protocol and the opportunities which it provides across the spectrum of children’s rights- in the areas of child protection, economic as well as civil and political rights. Professor Murphy added: “Ensuring widespread ratification of the Third Optional Protocol will be a challenge. This symposium aims to consider the relevance of the Protocol and opportunities for Ireland to lead in the ratification process. It aims to raise awareness of the Protocol amongst non-governmental organisations, academics and Government, and will culminate in a Call for Ratification of the Protocol which attendees are welcome to sign if they so wish. It is expected that this symposium will be just one part of a number of activities around the Protocol, raising awareness and encouraging ratification.” -ends-

The Centre for the Study of Nationalism and Organised Violence (CSNOV) at NUI Galway is pleased to announce two upcoming seminars.  ‘Talking Peace: A seminar on communication, contact and dialogue aimed at reducing or ending violence in Northern Ireland’ will take place on Wednesday, 16 May between 10am - 5pm in the Moore Institute at the University.  ‘Armed Conflict in Comparative Perspective’ will take place on Friday,18 May from  9am - 5pm in the Aula Maxima. ‘Talking Peace’ willbring together key actors with direct experience of mediation, negotiation and decision-making in the Irish peace process, including Sir Kenneth Bloomfield; Larry and Shauna Duddy; Dr Maurice Hayes; Jim Gibney; Dr Harold Good; Rev. Chris Hudson and Dr Martin Mansergh.  Professor Brendan O’Leary,University of Pennsylvania, will act as respondent. The symposium brings participants together with leading academics working on the politics of conflict and peace in Northern Ireland, including Professor James McAuley(University of Huddersfield); Dr Niall Ó Dochartaigh (NUI Galway); Dr Graham Spencer (University of Portsmouth); Dr  Katy Hayward(Queen’s University Belfast); Professor Jonathan Tonge (University of Liverpool); Professor  Robert White(Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis). ‘Armed Conflict in Comparative Perspective’ is a multidisciplinary conference bringing  together leading scholars working on aspects of armed conflict from a range of disciplinary perspectives. It will address key issues of concern to sociologists, political scientists and historians studying inter-state wars, civil wars, armed conflicts, urban violence and insurgencies. Speaking about the Talking Peace seminar, Dr Niall O’Dochartaigh, NUI Galway, said: “Communication through intermediaries and mediators was crucial to the peace settlement in the North but this important aspect of the peace process remains little understood, partly because it was shrouded in secrecy. It is an urgent matter to understand how such communication might play a role in resolving other situations of conflict today. “It is particularly appropriate that the seminar is taking place in Galway because the west of Ireland provided the setting for some very important encounters aimed at ending conflict in the North, such as the meeting between Protestant clergymen and the IRA leadership in Feakle Co. Clare that paved the way for the IRA ceasefire of 1975. It was a setting where people could talk at some distance from the centres of power and media attention in Dublin  and Belfast.” Dr O’Dochartaigh added: “The Talking Peace seminar explores this issue through a conversation between those with direct experience of the workings of government and of mediation during the conflict in the North and academics studying the conflict. The witness seminar format provides a unique historical methodology for exploring difficult historical topics of this kind through a kind of group interview where participants in historical events share, discuss and sometimes challenge each others' recollections. We are running the seminar in partnership with colleagues from King’s College London where the Institute of Contemporary British History has organised numerous witness seminars over many years and has built up extensive expertise in this method.” These events are supported by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Moore Institute, the School of Political Science and Sociology and the Institute for Business, Social Sciences and Public Policy, NUI Galway. These events are open to all but seating is limited. For registration please contact: Stacey.scriver@nuigalway.ie ENDS

The Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway is accepting delegates for its 2012 summer school on the International Criminal Court to be held 18-22 June in Galway. The summer school on the International Criminal Court (ICC) offered by the Centre is widely acknowledged to be the premier programme of its kind, attracting participants from around the world. During the five days of intensive lectures, delivered by leading specialist in the field, students are provided with a detailed working knowledge of the establishment of the Court, its applicable law, its structures and its operations. Lectures also speak to related issues in international criminal law, including universal jurisdiction, immunities and the role of the victims. According to Ray Murphy of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway: “The ICC is arguably the most important international institution to have been established since the creation of the United Nations. Its aim is combating impunity for atrocities, and it is at the forefront of a broader movement for achieving accountability and justice around the world. Only last month, it reached a milestone in convicting the first former head of state since the Nuremburg trials.” Professor Murphy added: “While the trial and ultimate conviction of Liberia's former president Charles Taylor garnered international headlines for tales of supermodels and diamonds, the true headline is the championing of accountability in respect of international crimes.” During the summer school on the International Criminal Court, expert presentations will be delivered by Professor William Schabas, Middlesex University and Chairman of the Irish Centre for Human Rights; Professor Siobhan Mullally, UCC; Dr Shane Darcy, Lecturer and Professor Ray Murphy, Irish Centre for Human Rights; Mr. John McManus, Department of Justice, Canada; Dr Mohamed M. El Zeidy and Ms Miriam Spittler, the International Criminal Court; Dr Nadia Bernaz, University of Middlesex; and Dr Annyssa Bellal, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the Irish Centre for Human Rights. To register, visit http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=16 or email iccsummerschool@gmail.com for more information. -ends-