Ragnar Arnalds was Minister for Finance of Iceland from 1980 to 1983. He has been an Icelandic MP, twice a cabinet minister and was Chair of the Icelandic People's Alliance from 1968 to 1977. He is founder of Heimssyn, the national organisation opposed to Icelandic membership of the European Union, and was its Chair from 2002 to 2009.
Read a transcript of Ragnar's contribution here
Chair
John Boyd, Secretary, Campaign Against Euro-federalism, Britain.
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Saturday 11th September, 11:00am
The crisis of the Irish economy
Paula Clancy is Director of TASC, the think-tank for action on social change, and also Director of the Democratic Audit Ireland Project. Her publications cover areas from media and politics to community arts and gender. She is co-author of
Outsourcing Government: Public Bodies and Accountability. Read a transcript of Paula's contribution here
Michael Taft, economist with the UNITE trade union
Tom O'Connor is College Lecturer in Economics and Public Policy, Cork Institute of Technology; member of the TASC Economists Network and a frequent media contributor on the Irish economy, unemployment and taxation. His forthcoming book, Moving Beyond Neoliberalism: Alternative Policies for Sustainable Employment and Decent Public Services in the Years Ahead, will be published next spring.
View Tom's presentation here
Chair
Conor McCabe, historian and author of a forthcoming book on the Irish Economic Crisis.
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Saturday 11th September, 2:30 pm
Corporate Influence and Lobbying: Who really makes policy in Ireland and the EU?
Niamh Brennan is Professor of Management and Academic Director of the Centre for Corporate Governance at University College Dublin. She has chaired the Commission on Financial Management and Control Systems in the Health Services and has published widely in the areas of Financial Reporting, Corporate Governance and Forensic Accounting.
Brian Denny is Press Officer with the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union in Britain. He is Chair of Trade Unionists against the EU Constitution, Britain, and has written on the pervasive effects of corporate lobbying in Brussels.
Michael Smith is editor of Village Magazine and is a Director of Transparency International (Ireland).
Chair
Finbar Cullen Director, Ireland Institute.
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Sunday September 12th, 11:00 am
Challenges for the Irish public service today
Blair Horan joined the Civil and Public Services Union (CPSU), which caters mainly for lower-paid public servants, as an Assistant General Secretary in 1988 and became its General Secretary in 1997.
View Blair's presentation here
William Kingston is Professor and Research Associate in the School of Business Studies at Trinity College Dublin. His most recent book is Interrogating Irish Policies and he has written widely on issues of public policy and administration.
Anne Casey is a union skills coordinator with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and has been involved in various global solidarity campaigns.
Read a transcript of Ann's contribution here
Cathleen O'Neill is a long-time worker with Kilbarrack Community Development Project and is a prominent advocate of the rights of women and the disadvantaged.
Kathleen Lynch is Professor of Equality Studies in UCD. She has a long-standing commitment to the understanding and promotion of equality and social justice locally and globally and has published widely.
View Kathleen's presentation here
Chair
Mary Crotty, National Committee, The People's Movement.