The 11th Co-operation Ireland Student Journalism Conference

The 11th Co-operation Ireland Student Journalism Conference will take place on Friday 26 February 2010 at the Titanic Quarter, Belfast. The theme of the conference is ‘The Transition from Conflict to Reconciliation. How has the media’s role changed?’ The conference, which was due to take place in November 2009, centres around the 2009 UN designated International Year of Reconciliation. The General Assembly invited ‘concerned Governments and international and non-governmental organizations to support reconciliation processes among affected and/or divided societies and to plan and implement adequate cultural, educational and social programmes to promote the concept of reconciliation, including by holding conferences and seminars and disseminating information about the issue’.

The venue for this annual Co-operation Ireland Student Journalism Conference rotates between Belfast and Dublin. This year the conference will be held in Belfast Titanic Quarter. The historic building, which is the headquarters of the Titanic Quarter Ltd, is a new venue for the conference. The Titanic Quarter is Europe’s largest and most exciting waterfront development. It will bring new life to a part of the city that is rich in both history and potential. The site is centred upon former shipbuilding land from which vessels such as the RMS Titanic, Olympic and SS Canberra were launched - some of most innovative and complex engineering projects ever undertaken. We are delighted that this year’s conference is being held in such an historic venue. The conference is sponsored by the Irish News, the News Letter and The Irish Times.