20th anniversary AFIS conference in La Rochelle in May 2023 on the theme of ‘Adventure in Ireland and France’
The venue for the 2023 conference was announced as La Rochelle where the organisers will once more be Drs Brigitte Bastiat and Frank Healy. It will revert to the usual date of the third week in May. This conference will mark the 20th anniversary of the first Franco-Irish gathering in Tallaght and so will be a significant milestone. The tentative theme mentioned was ‘Adventure in Ireland & France’.
Celebration of Scholarship 9 May 2023
‘France, Ireland’s nearest neighbour in Europe’: Celebrating a unique friendship on the European stage .Iveagh House, Friday 31st March 2023.
- Download the France, Ireland's nearest neighbour in Europe programme here
The next Franco-Irish Forum for Culinary Arts, Hospitality, and Tourism will be held at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology on 7-9 April 2022. In line with recent developments, the 2022 FICAHT event will focus on sustainability in a Covid and post-Covid era. Keynote speakers include Margaret Jenkins (Fáilte Ireland), Annette Sweeney (TU Dublin), Dr John Tunney (GMIT) and European funding consultant Paul Guest.
- Further details will be posted on https://ficaht2020.weebly.com/
The most recent staging of the AFIS conference in TU Dublin (Tallaght Campus) was a great success. It was the first in-person conference that the vast majority of people had attended in almost two years and it was wonderful to see familiar and new faces (quite a few of them!) and to be able to interact in a convivial environment that is an essential part of the AFIS experience. It was a source of regret that so many of our regular members could not be with us for various reasons, but they were regularly mentioned and were badly missed.
The Round Table on Europe, so ably assembled by Professor Joachim Fischer, got us off to a great start and things really took off from there. The two keynote addresses, by Professors Brigid Laffan and Anne Goarzin, were outstanding and the former’s address is available on this site. Professor Derek Hand displayed his wide range of skills in the course of a revealing and sensitive interview with award-winning novelist and short story writer Donal Ryan, who also read from his work.
The launch of the Lille proceedings and Nathalie Sebbane’s superb monograph on the Magdalene Laundries (nicely accompanied by the lovely wine supplied by the French Embassy) led to a rush to buy both books - Tony Mason of Peter Lang was kept so busy over the two days. It is clear that AFIS readers like and appreciate books! Indeed, the proceedings of the 2021 conference will be another significant addition to our publications’ list and on that point it was announced that Drs Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire and Eamon Maher are going to co-edit the book.
- View the AFIS 2021 – Keynote Speakers
- View the keynote address by Professor Brigid Laffan - New Beginnings from a Franco-Irish Perspective
- View the visual story here by Paul Butler - The Litte Gate at Aughawillan
Also at the AGM, the venue for the 2023 conference was announced as La Rochelle where the organisers will once more be Drs Brigitte Bastiat and Frank Healy. It will revert to the usual date of the third week in May. This conference will mark the 20th anniversary of the first Franco-Irish gathering in Tallaght and so will be a significant milestone. The tentative theme mentioned was ‘Adventure’.
- Keep an eye on our AFIS Facebook Page which is updated regularly
Will take place in the Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) on the 30th May and 1st June 2022 on the theme of “Food and Movement”. Over sixty speakers from sixteen different countries will come together to interrogate cultural aspects of food and gastronomy. Well known food historian and chef Dr Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire (TU Dublin) chairs the organising committee.
The DGS has been an important feature of on-going research collaboration and the National Centre for Franco Irish Studies has been centrally involved with the Symposium’s organisation from its beginning in 2012. The upcoming event will include stunning lunches at well-known Irish restaurants, an exceptional conference dinner at the King’s Inns as well as an unforgettable display of Irish artisanal produce at the welcoming lunch in the Central Quad of TU Dublin’s new campus in Grangegorman. Further details are available at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/dgs/
