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A conversation on sport and reconciliation will be held in Newry tonight 24 June as part of UN Peacebuilding Week. The event, hosted by the John and Pat Hume Foundation and Orla Mallon, daughter of the late Seamus Mallon MP, takes place at the Canal Court Hotel at 7pm with tea and coffee from 6.30pm.
If you would like to go along to this free event you can confirm your attendance at humefoundation.org
GAA President Jarlath Burns will deliver the keynote address on sport and reconciliation. Burns, who became the 41st President of the GAA on 24 February 2024, is a member of Silverbridge GAC and was Principal of St Paul's in Bessbrook until he was appointed as GAA President.
His address will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Portaferry middle distance runner and European Athletics Championship gold medallist Ciara Mageean, Aoife Redmond of the Peace Players, and Adam Doake from the Limestone Utd Project.
Tim Attwood, Secretary of the Hume Foundation, said the Shared Home Place conversations recognise the work of Seamus Mallon, former Deputy First Minister, who sought the genuine reconciliation of conflicting traditions using only peaceful means. Attwood said Mallon's desire was to build a warm, generous and inclusive shared homeplace on the island, and that Mallon, a passionate GAA player for Armagh and keen golfer, recognised that sport can be a medium for building better relationships between communities.
Attwood said the panel conversation would explore how sport can be a way to foster a culture of peace and tolerance within communities.
He added that the event forms part of UN Peacebuilding Week, which provides a dedicated platform to advance dialogue, share experiences and strengthen partnerships within the peacebuilding community. Attwood said the United Nations has recognised the potential of sport as a valuable tool in achieving peace and development, and that sport can foster discipline, fairness, inclusion, mutual respect and peaceful encounter between cultures and communities.
Mageean, originally from a small GAA club in Portaferry, Co Down, is a European 1500m Champion and two-time Olympian, and is a qualified physiotherapist and lifelong camogie enthusiast.
Redmond began her work with PeacePlayers Northern Ireland in 2017 as part of a university placement. She holds a BA (Hons) in Youth and Community Work and has worked in youth work settings throughout Northern Ireland since 2013. Originally from Dublin, she has continued to champion the role of team sports in bringing people together.
Doake, who plays for Brantwood, has been involved with the Limestone United community project, which provides sport in the interface area of North Belfast.
