A full audience in the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute watched as President Zelenskyy discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine, taking live questions from students at Dublin City University.
The broadcast was followed by an in-person panel discussion in the Hub on democracy, EU support for Ukraine, and European values, with the German Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Cord Meier-Klodt, and the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ireland, Mr Filip Vurm. Trinity’s Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Gail McElroy, chaired the discussion.
In the rich discussion, the panelists covered everything from public opinion in their home countries to misinformation, the energy crisis to plans for post-war reconstruction, and Ukraine's application for EU membership. The guest panelists placed the issues in their recent and long-term contexts. They stressed the importance of European unity in the face of the challenges still to come, with the myth of "the end of history" and the victory of liberal democracy now dispelled.
The event was one of the simultaneous satellite broadcasts held in Higher Education Institutes across Ireland. It was co-hosted by the Schuler Democracy Forum in the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and Trinity Research in Social Sciences (TRiSS) on behalf of the Embassy of Ukraine to Ireland.
Special thanks to the Embassy of Ukraine to Ireland, the German Embassy to Ireland, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ireland, Dublin City University, the Irish Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in Ireland, the Irish Universities Association and all the Trinity College staff and students who made this event possible.
