Tag Archives: John Kennedy Lecture

JOHN KENNEDY LECTURE 2025: DAME LOUISE RICHARDSON DISCUSSES HER LIFE, CAREER AND HER STUDIES ON TERRORISM AT THE JOHN KENNEDY LECTURE.

Dame Louise Richardson, the first woman to be Vice Chancellor of Oxford University delivered the second lecture in the new John Kennedy series at the University of Manchester on Thursday 22nd May 2025.

Chaired by Duncan Ivison (the new President and VC of Manchester) Dame Louise discussed the key factors which drove her career from her homeland of Ireland (where little was expected of her) to Oxford – and along the way saw her take up the key Presidential and VC role at St. Andrews in Scotland before her history making 7-year term at Oxford and onto become the President of the prestigious Carnegie Corporation in New York, one of the world’s leading  philanthropic foundations.

Dame Louise told a large and engaged audience in the city that ‘Astra-Zeneca deserved more applause’  for the ground breaking deal which they signed with Oxford to distribute the covid vaccine worldwide saving millions of lives and ending the lockdowns of 2020 and beyond.

She also discussed the origins of terrorism – a subject she helped to pioneer in academic circles and answered questions on the current conflict and causes in Gaza as well as outlining her views on the importance of all views being heard politically within academic institutions in the US and beyond.

John Kennedy CBE described the event as ‘stimulating’ ‘surprising’ and ‘Inspiring’ especially he concluded; ‘when you consider Dame Louise believed she would never be considered for the ancient spires of Oxford and could never have imagined she would lead and inspire the team which freed the world from covid’. 

‘It was a joy and honour to invite her to Manchester and for her to accept the invitation to join us for this engaging and enlightening series of lectures’.     

The event concluded with a reception in the Nancy Rothwell Building on campus.

The John Kennedy Lectures began at the University of Liverpool and became part of the Manchester landscape in 2024 when Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, became the inaugural speaker of the new Manchester based series. The President  also received an Honorary Doctorate from Manchester during his visit.

 

President of Ireland launches new John Kennedy Lecture Series at University of Manchester – April 2024

President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, receives honorary degree from The University of Manchester and launches new lecture series.

President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, visited The University of Manchester this week and spent two days on campus, during which he has been presented with an honorary degree and gave the inaugural lecture of the John Kennedy Lecture Series to invited guests.

On Tuesday 23 April, President Higgins attended a conferral dinner at The Whitworth during which he was presented with his honorary degree. In 2011, Michael D. Higgins was inaugurated as the ninth President of Ireland and re-elected in November 2018 to serve a second term in office. The President undertook postgraduate studies at The University of Manchester from 1968 -1971. 

Speaking at the conferral ceremony, President Higgins said: “The conferral of a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) from this esteemed University is an honour I very much appreciate, receiving it as I do in what is a very special year for The University of Manchester as it celebrates its 200th anniversary. This honour that you have bestowed on me has a particular personal resonance, given my family connections with Manchester. My two sisters came to Manchester in the late 1950s and married and reared their families here. This was followed by my own experience as a postgraduate student at this University in the late 1960s, times of hope and promise. 

“This period and the work of scholars I met and worked with instilled in me a profound and lifelong interest in migration. This honour I accept today, not just for myself, but for all migrants and those who study and care for them.”

A passionate political voice, a poet and writer, academic and statesman, human rights advocate, promoter of inclusive citizenship and champion of creativity within Irish society, Michael D. Higgins has previously served at every level of public life in Ireland, including as Ireland’s first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

Speaking about the visit Professor Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University said: “In conferring an honorary degree upon President Higgins and looking forward to his lecture we celebrate power of sharing knowledge to unite us and inspire change. It is especially important during our bicentenary year in which we celebrate 200 years of our incredible people and community and look toward the future.”

On Wednesday 24 April, The President delivered the first of a new annual series of lectures at The University of Manchester named the John Kennedy Lecture Series. The lecture series will run for five years as part of the University’s School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. The lectures will promote topics related to the island of Ireland. The lecture will be live streamed and available to watch online.

The title of the inaugural lecture, presented by President Higgins is: ‘Of the consciousness our times need in responding to interacting crises and the role of Universities as spaces of discourse in facilitating it.’

The President’s lecture touched on themes including; Universities providing grounds for thinking freely and empowering students to think freely for the betterment of society and especially their own societies.

The new lecture series is so named in honour of Dr John Kennedy CBE. Dr Kennedy was brought up in a large family in Ireland, he came to Northwest England and founded John Kennedy Civil Engineering. Over the next three decades, turnover grew from £10,000 to £60 million, making it one of the UK’s most successful construction and engineering companies. 

Commenting on the inaugural lecture of the John Kennedy Lecture Series at The University of Manchester, Dr John Kennedy, said: “It is an honour and tremendous pleasure to welcome the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins to the first in this new series of lectures. I am very proud to not only support education in the UK but in particular to be alongside The University of Manchester as it celebrates its 200th anniversary and remains a pioneering centre of excellence and achievement. I knew  the  lecture would be inspiring and thought provoking at a time when the world is in need of peace and wisdom.”

Bertie Ahern to deliver 11th John Kennedy Lecture

Bertie Ahern, the former Irish prime minister, will deliver the 11th John Kennedy Lecture in Liverpool on 22 November, 2018.

Bertie Ahern retired as Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) in May 2008 having enjoyed the unique distinction in modern Irish politics of being the first person in over sixty years to have been elected to that office on three successive occasions.

He served as a member of Dáil Éireann (the Irish Parliament) for almost 35 years. He was first elected to the Dáil in 1977 for the constituency of Dublin-Finglas and he represented Dublin Central from 1981 until 2011.

He was Minister for Labour from March 1987 to November 1991 and was appointed Minister for Finance on three separate occasions from November 1991 to December 1994. During this time he was one of the Irish representatives to sign the Maastricht Treaty, having been heavily involved in its negotiations. Bertie Ahern was first elected Taoiseach in June 1997, he was re-elected in June 2002 and again in May 2007. In 1997 his party was elected to government in coalition with the Progressive Democrats. This minority administration was supported by a small number of Independent members of Parliament. Bertie Ahern received widespread praise for his political skills in ensuring that this administration served its full five year term and delivered on real political and economic progress for the Irish people.

On the wider world stage during his Presidency of the European Council from January 2004 to June 2004 Bertie Ahern presided over the historic enlargement of the European Union to 27 member states including eight countries from Eastern Europe. He led Ireland to take leadership roles on key global issues such as increasing aid to developing countries and tackling the spread of HIV AIDS.

Bertie Ahern’s achievements as a leader at home and abroad have been recognised internationally. He has been conferred with honorary degrees by several universities and is one of only five people to enjoy the great distinction of having been invited to address both the Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Houses of Congress of the United States in Washington D.C.

The defining moment of this period and a defining moment in Irish history was the successful negotiation by Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair of the Good Friday Agreement between the British and Irish Governments and the political parties in Northern Ireland in April 1998.

The Good Friday Agreement transformed relations for the better between Ireland and Britain, between Ireland, North and South, and between different traditions within Northern Ireland. It instilled a new ethos of tolerance and respect into politics on the island of Ireland and between diplomatic relationship between the islands of Ireland and Britain.