WIP Weekly Round Up – 6th January 2012

Looking to catch up on the conversation in Ireland, Northern Ireland and DC? Check out our weekly series where we bring you the top five stories, events and opinion pieces that caught our eye this week.

1) Andy Pollak on the North South Co-operation in 2012.  Andy Pollak is the Director of the Centre for Cross Border Studies, and in September chaired the discussion on the Class of 2011′s WIP Papers.  This week in the Irish Times he gives an overview of the challenges and opportunities for North South Co-operation.  Andy also writes a monthly blog, “Notes from the Next Door Neighbours”, which is always worth a read.

2) Irish Archives’ online exhibition on the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty.  A belated note about the excellent exhibition on the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which launched on the 90th anniversary of the Treaty in December.  The Treaty established the Irish Free State, and was the catalyst for the Irish Civil War.  The delegates of the Treaty include many of the influential figures of the era, as outlined here.  The original copy of the Treaty has never before been publicly available and the exhibition also includes correspondence from the practicalities (Michael Collins appeals for funds) to the political (Arthur Griffiths writes to President DeValera about the “Ulster issue”).

3) The Release of the 1981 State Papers.  At the end of each year State Papers from Ireland and the UK are released under the ’30 year rule’.  The reporting has focused mainly on the negotiations around the Hunger Strikes, and the Irish Times have the most substantial reporting available on their site.  The releases prompted an interesting editorial from the Irish Independent.  The Belfast Telegraph also commented on the ongoing political impact of the papers.  Finally, an interesting piece on the new perspective the Papers provide on the Hunger Strike from the Irish Times’ political correspondent, Deaglan De Breadun, in his blog.

4) Republican Primaries & US Presidential Elections.  As the primary season kicks off, two quick recommendations.  Firstly, the New York Times ran this wonderful graphic outlining the different modes of transport associated with the different Republican candidates.  A more substantial resource is the US Presidential Atlas, with electoral maps covering polls, predications and results for some of the recent campaigns.

5) Conference: Ireland and the United States:A Decade of Change.  The Ireland USA Alumni Association is holding their inaugural conference on Friday & Saturday, 27 & 28 January 2012 in the Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin.  They have a great speaking line-up confirmed, including Ms. Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chairman of The American Ireland Funds, Brian MacCraith, President of DCU and the painter Robert Ballagh.  Highly recommended to our Alumni!