Alliance Party General Secretary, Stephen Farry, has been appointed as a Senior Fellow with the United State Institute for Peace. He will be
conducting a project entitled: “Inside Out: An Integrative Critique of the Northern Ireland peace process”
The post will commence in October 2005 and will last for 10 months. Dr Farry will be splitting his time between Washington DC and Northern Ireland. He will be taking a sabbatical leave of absence from his full-time job as General Secretary of the Alliance Party. However, he will continue as a North Down Councillor, and will put in place arrangements to deal with constituency work and to remain informed of local issues and debates.
Stephen Farry stated, “This is a great honour for me. The United States Institute for Peace is a very prestigious organisation, with an international reputation.
“From a constructively critical perspective, my project will explore why the Northern Ireland peace process has not reached its full potential. I will be suggesting that a failure to tackle deep community relations issues and to clearly articulate and defend shared understandings of democracy and the rule of law have frustrated implementation of the Good Friday agreement.
“I hope that my project looking at the Northern Ireland peace process will inform future efforts to achieve political progress here, but also inform an American and international audience of the correct lessons of our own experiences that are relevant to other divided societies around the world.”
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The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, non-partisan federal institution created by Congress to promote the prevention, management, and peaceful resolution of international conflicts. Established in 1984, the Institute meets its congressional mandate through an array of programs, including research grants, fellowships, professional training, education programs from high school through graduate school, conferences and workshops, library services, and publications. The Institute’s Board of Directors is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.