IRISH ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2007 - CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

CROSS BORDER PEOPLE: SOUTHERNERS IN THE NORTH; NORTHERNERS IN THE SOUTH
Ramada Hotel, Shaw's Bridge, Belfast
09-10 November 2007

2007 has introduced a period of change in Ireland. Relations within Northern Ireland seem to have improved as evidenced in the devolved administration in Stormont: officially, as recent meetings between the First Minister and the Taoiseach suggest, relations have never been better on the island of Ireland.

Attempts to evaluate North - South relations usually focus on relationships along the border areas or the performance of the North - South bodies set up under the Good Friday Agreement. This conference will draw on the experiences of the real North- South bodies, that is people who grew up in the South, now
living and working in the North and people who grew up in the North, and are now residing in the South.

We have distinguished speakers from business, the churches, politics, the arts, the professions, each of them well placed to draw on and analyse their experiences and give their views about the reality of North - South relations. Such as:

- What are the prospects for an all-Ireland public sphere?
- How has the economic boom in the South impacted on traditional stereotypes?
- Are we seeing the emergence of an all-Ireland sensibility or is partitionism still alive and well?

We are very pleased to have President Mary McAleese as principal speaker at the conference. Her views on current questions may be responded to by other speakers.