IIEA Talks

The EU's Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 sets a transformative agenda for accessibility, equality, and inclusion. In her address to the IIEA, Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, Senior Expert in Disability and Inclusion at DG Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion at the European Commission, explores the strategy’s achievements, challenges, and alignment with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Drawing on her pivotal role in the creation of the European Accessibility Act and recent election to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Inmaculada reflects on Europe’s leadership in disability policy and its implications for innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and the advancement of these rights globally. About the Speaker: Inmaculada Placencia Porrero is a Senior Expert in Disability and Inclusion at Directorate-General (DG) Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission. Her unit is responsible for the coordination of European policies for persons with disabilities. She works on European disability policies including the European Disability Strategy and the EU implementation of the UNCRPD. Inmaculada has worked on research programmes addressing accessibility as well as assistive technologies and has been Deputy Head of Unit for various disability-related units in the Commission. Her work in the "e-Inclusion" unit of the DG for Information Society and Media addressed accessibility policy. While at the DG for Justice and Consumers, she contributed to disability-related antidiscrimination legislation. She was responsible for the task force for the preparation of the European Accessibility Act and remains responsible for it since the Act's adoption in 2015. Currently, under the DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, she leads the team working on the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. In June 2024, she was elected as a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Ireland faces a unique challenge in reconciling its position as a major agricultural producer with increasingly ambitious climate targets at national and EU level. The agri-food sector contributes significantly to Ireland's economy, generating €17.3 billion in gross value added (6% of GNI*) and employing 173,400 people. However, it also accounts for 37.8% of national greenhouse gas emissions, creating a distinctive challenge. In this first event of a new IIEA project entitled Pathways: Ireland's Agricultural Future, Prof. Alan Matthews and Dr. Matthew O’Neill present for discussion the findings of their working paper, ahead of its publication in early 2025. The event was chaired by Dr Karen Keaveney, Head of Subject for Rural Development in the School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin. The IIEA is grateful to the European Climate Foundation for its support in establishing this project. About the Speaker: Prof Alan Matthews is Professor Emeritus of European Agricultural Policy at the University of Dublin Trinity College, Ireland, and a former President of the European Association of Agricultural Economists. His research interests include the behaviour of the Irish farm and food system, the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, the relationships between trade and food security, and WTO trade norms and disciplines. Dr Matthew O'Neill is Climate Project Lead at the IIEA, in which role he leads the Pathways: Ireland’s Agricultural Future project. His research focuses on the intersection of climate policy and agricultural systems.

In her address to the IIEA, Lara Marlowe discusses her new book, 'How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying'. Her book recounts the true story of a Ukrainian female army officer, Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko, who commands a 25-man drone attack and reconnaissance platoon on the eastern front of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Lt Mykytenko has survived artillery and aerial bombardment and human wave attacks by Russia’s Wagner militia. She won the medal for courage for leading missions into the grey zone between Ukrainian and Russian lines to retrieve dead and wounded soldiers. She has lost her husband, father and dozens of comrades-in-arms to the conflict. This is war as it is being fought on the edge of Europe in the 21st century, with high-tech weapons from muddy, rat-infested trenches reminiscent of the First World War, and where you can be obliterated by a two-tonne glide bomb or pursued and blown up by a whining drone rigged with a hand grenade. About the Speaker: Lara Marlowe is a Paris-based journalist and author. Marlowe has reported on more than a dozen wars and has won four press awards. She has completed three long reporting stints in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion of 24 February 2022 and continues to write a column for The Irish Times. She has reported for a host of broadcast and print media and was a staff foreign correspondent, based in Paris and Washington, for The Irish Times from 1996 until 2023. Marlowe makes her permanent home in Paris, where she has covered five French presidencies. She became a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2006 for her contribution to Franco-Irish relations. Marlowe is the author of How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying: Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko’s Fight for Ukraine (Head of Zeus, UK, 2024 and Melville House, US, 2025), Love in a Time of War: My Years with Robert Fisk (Head of Zeus, 2021), Painted with Words (2011) and The Things I’ve See: Nine Lives of a Foreign Correspondent (2010).

This year’s IIEA YPN Christmas Special reflects upon the 2024 ‘year of elections’. Larry Donnelly, Lecturer at NUI Galway, discusses the 2024 US Presidential election and what we can expect with a new Trump administration. Brigid Laffan, Professor Emeritus at EUI, discusses the European Parliament and what we can expect from a new EU Commission. Finally, Kevin Cunningham, Lecturer in Politics at TU Dublin and Founder of Ireland Thinks reflects upon the 2024 Irish General Election and its outcomes.  Speakers on this panel include: Larry Donnelly, Lecturer at University of Galway Brigid Laffan, Professor Emeritus at Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUI Kevin Cunningham, Lecturer in Politics at TU Dublin and Founder of Ireland Thinks

This podcast explores the importance of the rule of law as a fundamental value of the EU and its role in ensuring the future of the EU. In conversation with IIEA Researcher, Heather Burke, retired Supreme Court Judge, John MacMenamin discusses the internal and external issues facing Europe and its liberal democratic model. He emphasises that a healthy democracy relies on active participation in the democratic project, not only passive acceptance of the rule of law as an abstract principle. Offering insights into the role of the EU as a champion of the rule of law, Judge MacMenamin discusses how the EU must use tools such as the Article 7 procedure and the Rule of Law conditionality mechanism to their full potential. However, developing a sense of trust and ensuring subtlety when dealing with illiberal democracies must also be emphasised, lest the EU’s actions enhance the standing of populist, nationalist leaders. Judge MacMenamin considers that we must always draw a fundamental distinction between the policies of political parties and the neutrality of the institutions of the rule of law and democracy. The former may change based on the democratic will of the people, but the latter must always be protected. The ideal of the rule of law is one that is close to the human spirit, and Judge MacMenamin concludes by reflecting on its success being a matter of connecting with people, as a bottom-up, democratic process.

According to Noel Cunniffe, CEO of Wind Energy Ireland, wind energy is Ireland’s greatest asset in the fight against climate change and is also an enormous opportunity for Ireland to grow its economy and deliver affordable energy for homes and businesses. In his address to the IIEA, Mr Cunniffe will provide an overview of the evolution of the wind sector from the very first onshore wind farm which was installed in Co. Mayo in 1992, right the way through to the opportunities and challenges for onshore and offshore wind in the next 25 years. He will reflect on making Ireland energy independent, which is not without its challenges, but is certainly possible. About the Speaker: Noel Cunniffe is the CEO of Wind Energy Ireland which is Ireland’s largest renewable energy association and works with a wide range of stakeholders to build understanding and awareness of the benefits of wind and renewable energy. Prior to becoming CEO, Noel led Wind Energy Ireland’s Policy department in driving policy development across all aspects of the onshore and offshore renewable industry in Ireland. Previously, Noel was the Renewable Integration Lead in EirGrid, the Transmission System Operator of Ireland, and worked across several departments including electricity grid planning and operation, and the design of the electricity market of Ireland. He is a Chartered Engineer with Engineer’s Ireland.

In the final event of the 2024 Development Matters lecture series, which is kindly sponsored by Irish Aid, Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, discusses the most prevalent health emergencies facing the world today, particularly in Gaza, Haiti, South Sudan, and Yemen. He provides insights into currently ongoing disease outbreaks, environmental disasters, and other humanitarian crises. Dr Ryan also gives his views and experience on what causes such emergencies and how best to address them.  About the Speaker: Dr Mike Ryan was appointed Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme in 2019, having served as Assistant Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response from 2017 to 2019. Dr Ryan has worked at the forefront of managing acute risks to global health for nearly 25 years. He first joined the WHO in 1996.

In the context of global elections and geopolitical shifts, according to Holy Ranaivozanany, Deputy Executive Director of the Africa-Europe Foundation, a rethought, strong, and forward-looking alliance between Africa and Europe remains the most effective way to resolve interconnected crises and to meet shared development goals. In her keynote address to the IIEA, Ms Ranaivozanany explores how to unlock such opportunities for mutual benefit, where bold, innovative thinking is needed, from finance to health, green industrialisation, and digital cooperation. About the Speaker: Holy Ranaivozanany is Deputy Executive Director of the Africa-Europe Foundation, overseeing strategy, partnerships and outreach across Africa, Europe, and multilateral platforms. Previously, she led corporate social responsibility and sustainability for Fortune 500 companies in China and France, championing digital inclusion and climate solutions. She has collaborated with UN organisations and think tanks to shape global policy on technology for good, and has contributed to thought leadership on sustainability, disaster relief, and circular economy innovation.

The report of Mario Draghi, first published in September 2024, states that competition policy must adapt to ensure greater focus on fostering innovation and restoring the EU’s long-term competitiveness. Many of the ideas in this report have featured heavily in the mission letters sent by European commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Commissioners-designate. This panel of experts explores how concepts in the Draghi report may be incorporated into any future Commission guidelines and how the report will influence the new Commission’s approach to competition enforcement. The panel also reflects on whether Europe’s competition policy harms its competitiveness or whether it offers an avenue through which to boost Europe’s competitiveness. This panel event is hosted in conjunction with the Economic Regulators Network (ERN). About the Speakers: Olivier Guersent is the Director-General of the Directorate General for Competition. He joined the European Commission in 1992 and was initially with the “Merger Task Force” in the Directorate-General for Competition. From 2010 to 2014, he was the head of the private office of Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Service. Having held the position of Deputy Director-General since July 2014, Olivier has been Director-General of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Service and Capital Markets Union from September 2015 to December 2019. Brian McHugh was appointed Chair of the Irish NCA, the CCPC in August 2023, having previously served as a Member of the CCPC from 2017. Prior to his appointment to the CCPC, he spent 15 years in Northern Ireland’s Utility Regulator, the body responsible for both regulating the gas, electricity and water utility industries in Northern Ireland. During his time at the Utility Regulator, Brian was Director of Gas and Director of Finance & Network Assets. Brian holds a BA in Economics from Trinity College, Dublin, and an MSc in Energy Economics from the University of Surrey. Professor Imelda Maher is the Sutherland Full Professor of European Law and Director of the UCD Dublin European Institute. She is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and has been Senior Vice President since 2023. She is an honorary bencher of Middle Temple London, and she serves on the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Centre for European Legal Studies, the Max Planck Institute of Innovation and Competition, Munich, and the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, Loyola University, Chicago. Professor Maher was the first Irish woman to become President of the Society of Legal Scholars of the UK and Ireland (2016-2017), the largest scholarly society of common law lawyers in Europe and is a founding member of the European Law Institute, Vienna. Loretta O’Sullivan is the Chief Economist and Partner at EY Ireland. Loretta has been working in the economics field for almost 20 years in both the public and private sectors, on a wide range of Irish, European and global issues. She was previously the Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland and the Senior Economist in the Monetary Policy and International Relations Division at the Central Bank of Ireland. Loretta holds a PhD in Economics from Trinity College Dublin and an MA in Policy, Management and Government from the University of York.

In July of this year, Labour won one of the biggest landslides in British electoral history. However, according to the Irish Times’ London Correspondent Mark Paul, the new government's sheen quickly wore off. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was forced into an early reshuffle of his backroom operation while his popularity also plummeted, causing his administration to try turn the page on its early difficulties with a landmark budget that stunned Westminster in its scale. In his address to the IIEA, Mark Paul gives an overview of the challenges the Party has faced as it makes the transition from opposition to government. He discusses how confident Labour’s senior leadership is that they can lead Britain into a more stable political era. He also looks at how Labour might fend off the Tories under Kemi Badenoch and the growing electoral threat from Nigel Farage's Reform UK. About the Speaker: Mark Paul has been the London Correspondent and writer of the weekly London Letter for the Irish Times since January 2023. Before that he was the author of the backpage Caveat column in the Irish Times and also the Business Affairs Correspondent. Mr Paul joined the newspaper in 2013 from The Sunday Times, where he worked for almost a decade. He is currently a member of the Westminster press lobby, primarily observing the political intrigue in the Houses of Parliament. Mr Paul also reports on events from Holyrood and the Senedd in Edinburgh and Cardiff.