• Malachai O'Hara, Leader of the Green Party Northern Ireland and a Senator in the Oireachtas; Belfast native
  • Karyn Harty, Partner at Dentons Ireland; native of Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim
  • Una O'Neill, a Derry-born GP partner at Mercer's Medical Centre

The event will begin at 12.30pm. Please arrive 5-10 minutes in advance to check-in and take your seat. There will be tea, coffee and a light lunch following the event.

Mal O’Hara joined the Green Party Northern Ireland in 2014. Having been a long-term LGBTQ and social justice activist with a professional background in youth and community work. Senator O’Hara was elected to Belfast City Council in 2019 and to Seanad Eireann in 2024. Spearheading climate, social justice and civil rights causes as well as direct community action in his roles on Belfast City Council and in Seanad Eireann. Currently Senator O’Hara sits on Oireachtas committees focusing on drugs use, Traveller issues and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Challenging the broader consensus on the Good Friday Agreement, pointing to the lesser known, unimplemented social and development aspects of the Agreement. As a proud native of Belfast, his community and the people of Northern Ireland are always at the core of his work.

Karyn Harty is a native of Carrickfergus in County Antrim and was educated at Belfast Royal Academy and the Queen’s University of Belfast, where she was awarded the Human Rights prize for her thesis on the operation of Northern Ireland's Fair Employment legislation. Qualifying as a solicitor in Belfast in 1997, Karyn moved to Dublin in May 1998, building a leading practice in complex commercial disputes, regulatory defence and innovation in legal services. In 2022 Karyn joined Dentons Ireland as partner, leading the Disputes practice group, and serving on the firm’s Global inclusion & diversity leadership council and as Global co-chair for disputes.

Dr Una O’Neill, GP partner in Mercer’s Medical Centre, the largest GP practice in Dublin's city centre. Mercer’s Medical Centre has a diverse patient population of those working and living in the inner city. Dr O’Neill has a special interest in Women’s Health and minor surgical procedures. She is involved in the education of junior doctors to become GPs and runs a singing group in her practice for patients with respiratory problems. Originally from Derry, she went to Thornhill College then moved to Dublin to study medicine at Trinity College in 1994. She has lived in Dublin since and is married with 2 sons.

Mark Hennessy is Ireland and Britain Editor of The Irish Times, now leading the “Common Ground” project that will in the years ahead explore ever more deeply the relationships between both parts of the island of Ireland and between both parts of the island with Great Britain. Previously, he served as News Editor of The Irish Times for eight years; London Editor for seven years and as Political Correspondent for a decade. He is a frequent broadcaster both at home, and abroad.

The ARINS programme was established in 2020 as a partnership between the RIA and the University of Notre Dame’s Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies. ARINS is a nonpartisan, evidence-based research initiative that enables academics, practitioners and policymakers to explore questions and policy options for Ireland—north and south. ARINS seeks to engage recognised experts across the spectrum of disciplines, perspectives and points of view and invites contributions in the form of academic papers, blog posts and proposals for partnerships. Find out more at arinsproject.com or on X @ArinsProject

Queries

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Access Requirements

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