Join us for this year's EU Presidency Conference: Ireland’s enduring place in Europe and why it matters: The legal View

The Irish Centre for European Law (“ICEL”) is pleased to announce that it will host an EU Presidency Conference in partnership with the Chief State’s Solicitor’s Office at the President’s Hall at the Law Society of Ireland between 2-5pm on Friday, 13 November 2026 and streamed live online. There will be a networking event held after in the Blue Room from 5-6pm. The Conference will be themed “Ireland’s enduring place in Europe and why it matters: The Legal View“

This Conference will provide a forum for public discussion and debate of Ireland’s enduring place in Europe and why it matters from a legal standpoint. This is a particularly relevant topic given that Ireland will have held the role as EU President for approximately four months at the date of this conference.

The Conference will comprise of a keynote address and two moderated panels of leading Irish experts in this field and a concluding keynote address centred around the theme followed by a networking event.

The opening Keynote Address will be delivered by Rossa Fanning SC, Attorney General of Ireland. The closing Keynote address will be delivered by Maria Browne, Chief State Solicitor of Ireland.

The other Speakers and Moderators of the Conference are:

Mr Justice Anthony M. Collins, Court of Appeal and President, Irish Centre for European Law.

Marion Berry, Director General of the Office of the Attorney General (Moderator)

Paul Gallagher SC, Bar of Ireland and Former Attorney General of Ireland.

Senator Michael McDowell SC, Bar of Ireland, Member of Seanad Éireann and Former Attorney General of Ireland

David Fennelly SC. Bar of Ireland and Director of The Irish Centre for European Law (Moderator)

Karen Banks, Former Deputy Director-General, Commission Legal Service

Christine Comiskey, Assistant Chief State Solicitor, Constitutional and State Litigation Division.

Regina O’Connor, Former Senior Policy Advisor at European Parliament, Council of the EU and European Commission.

Tobias Lock, Head of the School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University.

For general enquiries about this conference, please contact icel@tcd.ie or visit our website www.icel.ie (https://www.icel.ie/)

There are 4 CPD points available for attending this Conference

Consider becoming a member of the Centre to avail of discounts, access recordings and papers from previous conferences, and join a growing network of professionals and organisations. Join Now (https://www.icel.ie/join-now/)

Description supplied by the event organiser.