Event Date: January 30, 2017 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Location: FSS 4004, 120 University Private

Presented by CIPS

In a year of political upsets, few developments caused greater international surprise than Britain’s referendum decision in June to leave the European Union. The potential consequences of this decision are profound: both for the UK and for the EU as a whole, but also for its individual Member States, perhaps none more so than Ireland.

Ireland is both a strongly committed member of the EU and Britain’s nearest neighbour, with whom it shares the broadest range of interests and deep historical ties. As we await the negotiations that will follow once the UK triggers Article 50 of the EU Treaty, Jim Kelly, Ireland’s Ambassador to Canada, will explore and discuss the implications of Brexit from an Irish perspective.

Jim Kelly, a native of Dublin, took up his duties as Ireland’s Ambassador to Canada in September 2016, his fourth posting. He previously served with Ireland’s Mission to the United Nations (2008-2013), at the European Union in Brussels (2001-2005), and at the Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark (1995-1998). Before joining the Foreign Ministry in 1993, he worked as a consultant with the leading global professional services firm, Accenture, and held civil service positions in the Department of Energy and the Revenue Commissioners in Dublin.