His Excellency Sean O'Huiginn, Irish ambassador to the United States and a key participant in Anglo-Irish relations, will speak at Fairfield University on "Ireland at the cross-roads," on Monday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m., in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Ambassador O'Huiginn is presenting the William and Mary Stack Lecture in Irish History and Culture in the Kelley Theatre. Admission is free and reservations may be made by calling the box office at (203) 254-4010 or toll-free at 1-877-278-7396.

From 1991 to 1997, Ambassador O'Huiginn headed the Anglo-Irish Division in Dublin. He was closely associated with the negotiation of the Downing Street Declaration in 1993, the Framework Document in 1995, the cease-fires called by the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries and the establishment of an inclusive talks process open to all the parties in Northern Ireland.

From 1987 to 1990 he led the Irish team of officials assigned to the Anglo-Irish Secretariat in Belfast, the primary day-to-day channel of contact between the two Governments on Northern Ireland.

A native of County Mayo, Ambassador O'Huiginn joined the Irish Foreign Service in 1969 and has been Ireland's Ambassador to the United States since 1997. His other ambassadorial assignments have been to Saudi Arabia, Denmark and Mexico.

Ambassador O'Huiginn was educated at St. Jarlath's College in Tuam, in County Galway, the University College Galway and the University of Bordeaux. He is married with two children. His wife, Bernadette, is a former T.V. presenter and an accomplished sculptor.

The William and Mary Stack Lecture in Irish History and Culture is made possible by a gift of William M. Stack of New Canaan, Conn., who serves on the University's Trustees Advisory Council. His gift is in memory of his father who was born in County Waterford, and honors his mother.

Posted On: 10-21-2000 09:10 AM

Volume: 33 Number: 71