Irish-German Relations 2017: Between Böll and Brexit

17th International Conference in Irish-German Studies

Irish-German Relations 2017: Between Böll and Brexit

20th Anniversary Conference of the Centre for Irish-German Studies & Commemoration of Heinrich Böll’s 100th Birthday

ALUMNI CONFERENCE

Venue and Date

University of Limerick, 14-16 September 2017

Organisers

Dr Joachim Fischer / Dr Gisela Holfter

Centre for Irish-German Studies / Zentrum für deutsch-irische Forschungen

School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics

University of Limerick

Limerick

Ireland

Gisela Holfter, Tel. 00353-61-202395, email

Joachim Fischer, Tel. 00353-61-202354, email

Programme Outline

14 September 2017 Venue: AD2-010 (Analog Devices Building, UL)

9.30 Opening addresses

10.00 - 11.30 Session 1 Irish-German Relations in the Context of Brexit

12.00 - 1.30 Session 2 Economic Relations and the Need for Languages

2.30 - 4.00 Session 3 Heinrich Böll and Ireland

4.30 - 6.00 Session 4 Heinrich Böll at 100

6.30 Music Kurt Roger’s Irish Sonata (Irish World Academy for Music & Dance)

7.30 Reception by German Embassy followed by Conference Dinner (Pavilion Restaurant)

15 September 2017

9.00 - 10.30 Session 5 Austria – Ireland – Switzerland in 2017

11.00 - 12.30 Session 6 Literary Studies

1.30 - 3.00 Session 7 Connections in Science

3.30 - 5.00 Session 8 Recent Work on Historical Links

5.15 - 6.45 Session 9 Artistic Interfaces: Art, Music, Poetry

7.00 – 8.00 Readings Joe Joyce & Eva Bourke & Book presentations

8.00 Céilí & Barbeque (The Scholars Club & Bar)

16 September 2017

9.00 - 10.30 Session 10 Irish Studies in German-speaking Countries / German Studies in

Ireland

11.00 - 1.00 Session 11 Media Discourses on Ireland and Germany / Stories from Berlin

Thursday, 14 September 2017

9.30 Opening Address by Dr Desmond Fitzgerald, President, University of Limerick

10.00-11.30 Session 1: Irish-German Relations in the Context of Brexit and Beyond (Chair: Edward Moxon-Browne)

Josef Reichhardt (Deputy German Ambassador, Dublin) – Diplomatic perspectives

Rüdiger Görner (Centre for Anglo-German Cultural Relations, London) – British-German relations from a ‘Germanistik’ point of view

Paul Gillespie (Irish Times) – The Brexit debate and Ireland

12.00-1.30 Session 2: Economic Relations and the Need for Languages (Chair: Bernadette Andréosso-O’Callaghan)

Ralf Lissek (Irish-German Chamber of Commerce, Dublin) – The development of economic relations in recent years

Liam Ryan (SAP Ireland) – Irish-German business: An employer’s perspective

Mairead Crosby (IBEC) – The need for German language skills for the Irish economy

2.30-4.00 Session 3: Böll and Ireland (Chair: Hermann Rasche, Galway)

René Böll (Cologne) – The Böll family and Ireland

Edward King (Achill) – Heinrich Böll on Achill Island and his connections there

Sheila McHugh (Acla Heinrich Böll Committee) – The work of the Heinrich Böll Committee on Achill Island

John McHugh (Heinrich Böll Cottage) – Artists’ and writers’ residencies in the Böll Cottage

4.30-6.00 Session 4: Böll at 100 (Chair: Pól Ó Dochartaigh, NUI Galway)

Ralf Schnell (Berlin) – The complete works of Böll (Kölner Ausgabe) and developments in Böll scholarship

Frank Finlay (Leeds) – The Lost Honour of HB: Böll’s legacy in the 21st Century

Christiane Schönfeld (MIC/UL) – Böll's Prose on Screen

6.30 Music – Kurt Roger (1895-1966), Irish Sonata played by Joachim Roewer (Irish Chamber Orchestra) & Lance Coburn (Royal Irish Academy of Music)

(A rare Irish performance of the acclaimed sonata written by the Austrian refugee composer in Waterford before emigrating to the US in 1939 – the only musical trace of German-speaking refugees in Ireland. Introduced by Leslie Stevenson, St. Andrews, and Gisela Holfter).

7.30 Reception by German Embassy followed by Conference Dinner (Pavilion Restaurant)

Friday, 15 September 2017

9.00-10.30 Session 5: Connections in Science (Chair: Helen Kelly-Holmes, UL)

Georg Krawietz (DAAD London) – The role of the German Academic Exchange Service

Luke Drury (DIAS, Dublin) – The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and the crucial role of international scientific links

Ursel Bangert (UL, Bernal Institute) – The added benefits of international collaboration: Some examples of Irish-German research projects

11.00-12.30 Session 6: Literary Studies (Chair: Sabine Egger, MIC/UL)

Michaela Schrage-Früh (Galway/Mainz) – Lyrical links: Germany in Irish poetry

Marieke Krajenbrink (UL) – Irish-German detective fiction

Emer O’Sullivan (Lüneburg) – Irish-German intercultural connections in children’s literature

1.30-3.00 Session 7: Austria – Ireland – Switzerland in 2017 (Chair: Veronica O’Regan)

Andreas Maurer (Innsbruck) – The Brexit Debate: An Austrian perspective

Patrick Studer (Zurich) – Recent Swiss discourses about the European Union and Swiss-Irish relations

Jürgen Barkhoff (Dublin) – Swiss-Irish literary relations

3.30-5.00 Session 8: Recent Work on Historical Links (Chair: Eda Sagarra, Dublin)

Peter Harbison (Royal Irish Academy, Dublin) – Archaeological links Ireland-Germany

Jérôme aan de Wiel (Cork) – Recent historical research on Irish-German relations, 1870-1922: An overview

Mervyn O’Driscoll (Cork) – Recent historical research on Irish-German relations in the post-war period: An overview

5.15-6.45 Session 9: Artistic Interfaces: Art, Music, Poetry (Chair: Gareth Cox, MIC)

Imogen Stuart (Dublin) – Irish-German connections in art: A personal review

Raymond Deane (Dublin/Fürth) – Working at the Irish-German musical interface

Seamus Hogan et al.(Ballydehob) – Translating Rilke

7.00-8.00 Readings (Chair: Andreas Zürn, Goethe Institut Dublin) – Joe Joyce, journalist and author of the trilogy Echoland (Dublin One City One Book Choice 2017), Echobeat and Echowave; Eva Bourke (Galway/Berlin) & presentation of Siobhán O’Connor, Irish Government Policy and Public Opinion towards German-Speaking Refugees, 1933-1943 (2017) and Gisela Holfter/Horst Dickel, An Irish Sanctuary- German-speaking Refugees in Ireland 1933-1945 (2017)

followed by Céilí & Barbeque (The Scholars Club & Bar)

Saturday, 16 September 2017

9.00-10.30 Session 10: Irish Studies in German-speaking Countries / German Studies in Ireland (Chair: Manfred Schewe, Cork)

David Stifter (Maynooth) – The state of Celtic Studies in the German-speaking countries

Jochen Achilles (Würzburg) – Irish Studies in the German-speaking countries: The last twenty years

Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa (Galway) – Recent developments in German Studies in Ireland

11.00-1.00 Session 11: Media Discourses on Ireland and Germany / Stories from Berlin (Chair: Elmar Conrad-Hassels, German Ireland Fund/GILBA, Bonn)

Brendan Keenan (Irish Independent) – Recent Irish media discourses on Germany

Fergal Lenehan (Jena) – German media discourses on Ireland since 1990

Derek Scally (Irish Times, Berlin) – Reporting from Berlin: An Irish correspondent’s perspective

Melanie Neumann (Berlin) – The Irish in Berlin: Immigration since the Millennium

Close of Conference

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the DAAD; the Heinrich Böll Stiftung; the Austrian and German Embassies; the Goethe Institut Irland; the Centre for European Studies (CEUROS), the Schools of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics and Culture and Communication, the Faculty of AHSS and the IACF, University of Limerick.

For any changes, updates and information re registration see Centre for Irish-German Studies website: http://ulsites.ul.ie/irishgerman/upcoming-events

For general inquiries, please contact: (Emma T. Foley/Madeleine O’Sullivan)

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