Minister Martin announces €200,000 in academic grants for Conflict Resolution

Minister Martin announces €200,000 in academic grants for Conflict Resolution

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Michéal Martin T.D., has announced the first recipients of the new Academic Research Scheme in Conflict Resolution grants which aim to support academic work in the area of conflict resolution.  The scheme is designed to foster collaboration with the academic community as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs Conflict Resolution Initiative. 

Total funding of €200,000 has been allocated to three research programmes in Irish Universities which will examine areas relevant to the work of the Conflict Resolution Unit of the Department.  Grants have been awarded to the following three projects:

Dublin City University, ‘Mediating Peace Agreements: the Capacity of the EU as a Multi-track Mediator’ (€80,000)

University of Limerick, ‘Women’s Memory as a Path Toward Justice and Peace in Transitioning Democracies’ (€70,000)

University College Dublin, ‘Patterns of Conflict Resolution: Sequences and Mechanisms in Peace-making and Peace-building.  How to draw lessons from Northern Ireland’ (€50,000)

The three grants will run for one year. The grant programme is an innovative means to further strengthen the partnership between government and the academic community and to enhance the exchange of experience and expertise. The programme was administered this year on behalf of the Department by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences as a separate strand of its Research Development Initiative.

Announcing the results, the Minister stated:

“I am delighted to announce the successful projects for the first year of this exciting initiative in the area of conflict resolution.  My Department is fully committed to cultivating Irish academic expertise in the area of conflict resolution and these research projects will be a critical means of achieving this. 

Irish-based researchers and practitioners in conflict resolution form a reservoir of expertise that Ireland can usefully draw upon.  Given our history, we have an important contribution to make to the development of an understanding of the dynamics of conflict and of how peace can be achieved and maintained.

The Academic Research Scheme in Conflict Resolution will also enable the Irish academic community to enhance its international engagement in the area of conflict resolution.  It will help bridge the gap between research, policy and action in the field of peace and conflict studies.  It provides a unique opportunity for us to draw upon the important analytical research which is being carried out in the academic community and to explore further synergies in our work.”

Notes for Editors:

The Conflict Resolution Unit was established in the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2007, to lead work on enhancing Ireland’s engagement in conflict resolution activities internationally.   The CRU is based within the Department’s Political Division, and cooperates closely with Irish Aid and the Department’s Anglo-Irish Division.  The CRU works with a number of key partners, including the European Union, the United Nations,  international NGOs and domestic NGOs.

The Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) was established in 2000 by the Minister for Education and Science in response to the need to develop Ireland's research capacity and skills base in a rapidly-changing global environment where knowledge is key to economic and social growth. With the support of the National Development Plan, the IRCHSS funds cutting-edge research in the humanities, social sciences, business and law with the objective of creating new knowledge and expertise beneficial to Ireland's economic, social and cultural development.

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Press Office

23 December 2009