Speakers at the morning Congress session included (l r); George Lee, Economics Editor, RTE; Caroline Erskine, session chairperson; Martin Territt, Director, European Commission Representation Office, Dublin; Dr Maurice Hayes, Chairman, National Forum on Europe; Alan Dukes, Director, Institute of European Affairs and Jozsef Martin, AEJ Hungary, deputy editor, Varsárnapi Hirek.
A major sponsorship campaign prepared the way for a very worthwhile and enjoyable three days which included the launch of the AEJ Media Freedom Survey “Goodbye to Freedom” (see below). The major Congress sponsor was DEPFA Bank.
The Congress itself took place in Dublin Castle, courtesy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and was officially opened on Saturday morning, November 10th the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Bertie Ahern TD.
Guest speakers at the Saturday morning session on the theme “50 years on: the EU in a shrinking world” included Martin Territt, Director, European Commission Representation Office in Dublin and Dr Maurice Hayes, Chairman, National Forum on Europe.
This was followed by a panel discussion which included Brian Crowley MEP; George Lee, Economics Editor, RTE; Alan Dukes, Director, Institute for European Affairs and Jozsef Martin, Deputy Editor, Varsárnapi Hirek.
The afternoon session on the theme “Media Freedom in Europe under threat” was chaired by William Horsley, AEJ Media Freedom Representative.
A workshop was held to mark the launch of the AEJ media freedom report with panellists Miklos Haraszti, OSCE Media Freedom Representative; Manana Aslamazyan, President, Internews Europe; Dr John Horgan, Press Ombudsman, Ireland; Paul Gillespie, Foreign Editor, The Irish Times along with the authors of the 20 AEJ country reports on media freedom. The Irish report was drafted by Irish AEJ member and former Irish Times journalist Joe Carroll.
Delegates and guests arrived in Dublin on the evening of Wednesday, November 7th and the morning of Thursday, November 8th and were greeted at the airport by Irish Section chair Eileen Dunne and Secretary, Dr Martin Alioth assisted by journalism students from DIT. A shuttle bus ferried them to the Camden Court Hotel in Dublin 2 where they were met by Section Treasurer Tim Ryan.
An AEJ Executive Committee took place on Thursday evening followed by dinner in the nearby Hilton hotel sponsored by the European Commission Representation Office.
Friday morning saw the delegates on their way to the Intel plant in Leixlip, Co. Kildare the largest IT facility in Ireland. Their they were given a briefing and tour followed by lunch before travelling back to Dublin Castle for the Annual General Meeting of the AEJ, chaired by the President Diego Carcedo and assisted by the General Secretary, Peter Kramer.
On Friday night Diageo Ireland hosted a reception for delegates and Irish members in the Guinness Storehouse.
Diego Carcedo (Spain), AEJ President; Saiah Tsaousidou (Italy); Bertie Ahern TD, Taoiseach; Peter Kramer (Belgium), AEJ General Secretary, Martin Alioth, Irish AEJ Secretary and Eileen Dunne, Irish AEJ Chair at the Congress
On Saturday night, the Department of Foreign Affairs hosted the main Congress Dinner at the Jameson Distillery where the Guest Speaker was the Minister for European Affairs, Dick Roche TD.
The Congress was rounded off on Sunday morning with a sight-seeing trip, courtesy of Fáilte Ireland, to Co Wicklow followed by lunch in the Roundwood Inn.
Many messages of thanks and appreciation were received in the days after the Congress from the delegates who attended.
“This was a major event run by a small Committee of dedicated members on a tight Budget,” said Irish Chair Eileen Dunne. “But its success exceeded our wildest expectations and was a very just reward for the 12 months of intense preparation. I would particularly like to thank all our sponsors without whose support the event could not have taken place.”
See also: www.aej-uk.org/survey.htm
The Irish Section has expressed its deep appreciation to the following sponsors:
DEPFA BANK
The Department of Foreign Affairs
The European Commission Representation Office, Dublin
The European Parliament Office, Dublin
The National Forum on Europe
Diageo Ireland
Intel
Fáilte Ireland
The Quinn Group
CRH
The ESB
The Irish Times
BT Openzone