Friday 11th September, 7:30

The Race to the Bottom in an EU Context

David Begg is General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) which supported the Lisbon Treaty in the last referendum.

Eamon Devoy is Gen Sec Designate of the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) which opposes the Lisbon Treaty.

Chair

Jack O'Connor is General President of the Services, Industrial and Technical Union (SIPTU) which did not take a position on Lisbon at the last referendum.

Saturday 12th September, 11:00

Neo-liberal agenda in Ireland

Eoin O'Broin is a former Belfast city councillor and editor of Left Republican Review who has served as the party's director of European Affairs in Brussels. He is author of the recently published Sinn Féin and the Politics of Left Republicanism.

Maire O'Connor is an award - winning journalist and broadcaster and recently author of Emergency - Irish Hospitals in Chaos.

Andy Storey is a lecturer in the School of Politics & International Relations at UCD. He is Chairperson of Afri, an organisation committed to the promotion of global justice and peace.

Chair

Michael Quinn is Chairman, North Kildare branch of the Peoples Movement.

Saturday 12th September, 2:30

Remembering 1969: memory and history

Brian Hanley has written extensively on Republicanism. He lectures in the department of history, Queens University Belfast and is the author of a forthcoming book on the Official IRA.

Chair

Mick Ryan was formerly a prominent member of the Official Republican Movement.

Sunday September 13th, 11:00

Women and the EU.

Ursula Barry is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Justice, Women's Studies Centre, UCD. She represents Ireland on the EU Gender and Employment Research Network.

Evelyn Mahon is a senior lecturer in sociology and social policy at Trinity College Dublin and Director of the M.Sc. in Applied Social Research.

Deirdre Uí Bhrógáin is a member of the National Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Ireland.

Chair

Patricia McKenna served for ten years as an MEP and is Chairperson of the People's Movement.

Sunday 13th September, 2:30

The International Financial Crisis: What can Governments do?

Kieran Allen is Senior lecturer in the School of Sociology at UCD. He is the author of, among other works; The Corporate Takeover of Ireland, (2007) and The Celtic Tiger: The Myth of Social Partnership (2000).

John Foster headed the No2EU list in Scotland in the recent EU elections. He lectures in economics and recently published 'The Politics of Britain's Economic Crisis'.

Prof. Ray Kinsella is Director of the Centre for Insurance Studies, at the Smurfit Business School, UCD. He is widely published in the areas of financial institutions, insurance and corporate governance. He was previously an economist at the Central Bank of Ireland and Economic Advisor to the Minister for Trade.

Chair

Colm Rapple is an economist by training and a journalist by profession. He is a former business editor of the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and of the Irish Press Group. He also writes and broadcasts on personal finance issues.