Press release
Minister Burke at “Germany and Ireland: transition, transformation, legacies, learning” conference
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister of State for European Affairs Peter Burke will deliver the key note address at the conference on: “Germany and Ireland: transition, transformation, legacies, learning” in the Royal Irish Academy, today, Wednesday, October 4. It will be attended by the Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, and the German Ambassador to Ireland, Cord Meier-Klodt.
The conference takes place one day after the German National Day which celebrates the 1990 unification of East and West Germany, known to Germans as ‘Unity Day’. Thematically the conference will deal with the legacy of German unification, the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and the European Union.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Minister Burke said:
"As the Minister of State for European Affairs, it is a great honour for me to be asked to deliver the keynote address at this conference. The learnings we can take from German unification and the Good Friday Agreement were never so timely and have much to tell us in the context of both contemporary Europe and contemporary Northern Ireland. I am looking forward to highlighting Ireland’s links to Germany, and Leipzig in particular; our shared experiences of peace and above all, our countries’ common participation in the peace-making project that is the European Union.
"At a time when Europe is experiencing profound conflict, not least as a result of Russia’s unjustified aggression against Ukraine, it remains incumbent upon us all to try and learn the lessons of past conflict and division. The people of both Ireland and Germany have a shared experience of such conflict, and we should assess how this experience can assist us as we begin to grapple with both the challenges and opportunities presented by the prospect of an enlarged European Union which one day will encompass the countries of the Western Balkans as well as Ukraine and Moldova."