Saturday 25th October 2008

WORKSHOP

THE SECRET NEGOTIATOR: BRENDAN DUDDY'S ROLE IN WORKING
BETWEEN THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND IRA LEADERSHIP

9:00am – 4:30pm

Registration and coffee
from 8:30 – 9:00am

Canterbury Hall
University of London
Cartwright Gardens
London WC1H 9EE

Fee: £60 (OPUS Associates £30)
includes lunch and refreshments

NB. You can become an Associate
when booking for this event

Presenter: Brendan Duddy

Chaired by: Deirdre Moylan, OPUS Associate

Brendan Duddy is a Businessman, CEO, of the Duddy Group in Derry City, Northern Ireland; He is a former Member, Northern Ireland Policing Board; Founding Member, Irish Group Relations Organisation (IGRO); Consultant, International Foundation for Social Innovation (France); Member, Israeli Group for Change in Society; Consultant, Tavistock Centre, London; Member, International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO); and an OPUS Associate.

Brendan recently featured in an hour long BBC Two Documentary that described his role as a negotiator between leading IRA members and members of the British security forces.

Brendan will be well known to those engaged in Group Relations learning in Britain and other countries.

The end to the longest of wars in the North of Ireland was something that required a patient process of often–secret dialogue. Brendan is one of the makers of Ireland’s peace — among the first to argue that you talk, not fight, your way out of conflict. For more than two decades he was the secret link between the British Government and the IRA leadership in what was called the “backchannel”. Ireland’s peace is a triumph for dialogue over the gun. Brendan tried to be heard when the gun was loudest. Now, the silence of our peace owes much to the arguments he made and the risks he took. In this exceptional workshop Brendan will describe his internal and external experiences in living with massive uncertainty that extended to uncertainty for personal safety and life. Members will be invited to consider the application of learning from this experience to other situations such as Afghanistan.For information please contact as follows:
OPUS, 26 Fernhurst Road, London SW6 7JW; 020 7736 3844;
or email: director@opus.org.uk

Fee £60 (OPUS Associates £30) - includes lunch and refreshments. For information please contact as follows: OPUS, 26 Fernhurst Road, London SW6 7JW; 020 7736 3844; or email: director@opus.org.uk

Outline Programme:  

8.30 - 9.00 Tea, coffee and registration

9.00 - 10.00 BBC2 Film ‘The Secret Peacemaker’ (Intro by Gordon Lawrence)  

10.00 - 10.15 Chair's Introduction — Deirdre Moylan.  ***

10.15 - 11.15 Brendan Duddy.  

11.15 - 12.30  Small Groups  (working tea).

12.30 - 1.30   Lunch  

1.30 - 2.15   Brendan Duddy — Questions and Discussion.   

2.15 - 3. 30   Small Groups (working tea). 

3.30 - 4.30 Plenary Discussion.

Note: *** Those who have seen the BBC2 film may wish to arrive in time for a 10am start. If so, tea and coffee will also be available from 9.30am.