2023
UCC to host national forum on International Security Policy
- The Forum is set to start a broad discussion on the State's foreign, security and defence policies.
- It is designed to build public understanding, with experts representing a broad range of experience and views.
- The Forum will explore threats facing the State, including foreign interference, threats at sea and cyber security.
University College Cork (UCC) will host the first day of the Government’s Consultative Forum on International Security Policy on 22 June. The Forum aims to build public understanding and generate discussions on Ireland’s foreign, security and defence policies.
Members of the public are encouraged to join the discussions by attending in person, watching via live stream and making submissions to the public consultation process.
The first day of the Forum will be addressed by the Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin TD. Public participation in the Forum is strongly encouraged. Anyone who would like to attend the UCC event should register their interest here.
A number of particularly interesting issues will be discussed at the UCC event, ranging from the global security environment to new and emerging threats in the areas of cyber security and maritime security and critical infrastructure.
The Forum will continue over the following days in Galway (23 June) and Dublin (26 and 27 June), focusing on a wide range of issues, including Ireland’s efforts to protect the rules-based international order through peacekeeping and crisis management, international humanitarian law, and conflict prevention and peacebuilding as well as allowing for a discussion on Ireland’s policy of military neutrality.
Announcing the Forum, the Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin TD, said: “The international security environment has changed significantly over the last year. We have seen blatant and brutal disregard by Russia of international law and Europe’s collective security architecture, bringing war to the European continent. Ireland’s commitment to a rules-based international order with the UN Charter at its heart, and our traditional policy of military neutrality, do not inure us from the need to respond to this new reality. The Consultative Forum on International Security Policy will allow for an open and informed discussion on the issues involved”.
Professor Andrew Cottey, UCC’s Department of Government and Politics, is working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Defence to organise the Forum.
Professor Cottey said: "The 2021 cyber-attack on the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Russian military activities in waters and airspace near to Ireland highlighted the new security challenges Ireland faces. The Consultative Forum on International Security Policy is an important opportunity to start a national conversation on these issues and how Ireland should respond to them. UCC is proud to be hosting the first day of the Forum.”
The Forum will involve a wide range of stakeholders, with participation from civilian and military experts and practitioners representing a breadth of experience and views.
For more information on the live stream and the public consultation process, please visit the Forum website here.