PRESS RELEASE

Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland, will deliver the annual William and Mary Stack Lecture in Irish History and Culture at Fairfield University on Thursday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. Ahern, who will also receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, will present “Ireland Today: Building on Peace” at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Ahern, the tenth Taoiseach of Ireland, has had a 30-year career in politics and government. As his country’s leader, he has been instrumental in the difficult peace process in Northern Ireland, playing an important role in the 1998 Good Friday Accord and in the modernization of the Irish economy.

“It is a particular honor to have Mr. Ahern deliver the Stack Lecture since he has played and continues to play such an important and constructive role in the peace process,” said William M. Stack of New Canaan, who established the program in memory of his father and to honor his mother.

Along with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Ahern has been a tireless worker in the ongoing struggle for peace in Northern Ireland. In 1998, the two prime ministers, political leaders in Northern Ireland and U.S. President Bill Clinton, played a major role in producing the Good Friday Accord, an attempt to stabilize the region. Ahern encouraged Nationalist and Republican leaders in the North to engage in the peace process and, in a show of good faith to Unionists and Loyalists, he convinced voters in the Republic of Ireland to give up the constitutional claim to Northern Ireland.

Since 1998, Ahern has worked to give effect to all of the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement and to overcome the problems that have arisen in implementing some aspects of this hugely ambitious and far-reaching Accord.

The lecture is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To reserve seats, call the Quick Center box office at 203-254-4010.

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