Conflict and Change: A Conversation with Rory Montgomery and Jonathan Powell

Recorded May 18, 2020. A joint initiative between Queen's
University Belfast (QUB) and the Trinity Long Room Hub chaired by
Jane Ohlmeyer, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub with a
conversation facilitated by Richard English, Professor of Politics
and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalization and Engagement at
QUB. Jonathan Powell and Rory Montgomery have had distinguished
careers which have seen them act as key negotiators in conflict
resolution from Northern Ireland to the Basque Country and
Colombia. In this conversation-style discussion, Professor Richard
English will probe both Rory and Jonathan on their experience of
working in environments of conflict, covering topics such as the
importance of dialogue and the legacies of the peace process in
jurisdictions such as Northern Ireland. They will also discuss the
relationship between Ireland, the UK and the EU, reflecting on the
new context Brexit poses; and finally, how states respond to
crisis, challenges and change such as that posed by the Covid-19
pandemic. Rory Montgomery recently retired from the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade. Prior to his retirement, he served as
Second Secretary General with responsibility for EU issues,
including Brexit. Before that he was EU adviser to Taoiseach Enda
Kenny (2014-16), Ambassador to France (2013-14), Permanent
Representative to the European Union (2009-13), and Political
Director, dealing with foreign and security policy, (2005-9). He
was a member of the Irish team which negotiated the Good Friday
Agreement and the establishment of North/South institutions.He is
currently a Public Policy Fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub and
an Honorary Professor of Practice at Queen’s, and is also a
consultant on EU issues. Jonathan Powell is CEO of Inter Mediate,
the charity he founded in 2011 to work on conflict resolution
around the world. Jonathan worked on the negotiations with ETA in
the Basque country, on the negotiations in Colombia with the FARC
and on the peace negotiations in Mozambique. Inter Mediate is
working on 14 conflicts at the moment. Jonathan was Chief of Staff
to Tony Blair from 1995 to 2007 and from 1997 to 2007 was also
Chief British Negotiator on Northern Ireland. From 1978-79 he was a
broadcast journalist with the BBC and Granada TV and from 1979 to
1994 a British Diplomat. He is the author of ‘Great Hatred, Little
Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland’, ‘The New Machiavelli, How
to Wield Power in the Modern World’ and ‘Talking to Terrorists, How
to End Armed Conflict’ Learn more at:
https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/