Member of North Irish legislative assembly to speak Oct. 22

Dr. Alisdair McDonnell, a member of the Northern Irish legislative assembly, will give a presentation on "The Politics of Peace in Northern Ireland" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, in the third-floor lounge of Murray-Herrick Campus Center.

The presentation is free, open to the public and sponsored by the UST Center for Irish Studies.

Dr. L ee Smithey of the St. Thomas Sociology Department has done extensive research on conflict resolution in Belfast and elsewhere in Ulster; he will persent background information on Northern Ireland and conduct the conversation with McDonnell. A question-and-answer session will fillow the presentation.

McDonnell, 51, is a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) member of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont in Belfast. The power-sharing legislative assembly is currently threatened with suspension following the allegation that members of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, improperly spied on government offices.

For the past 24 years McDonnell has served as a family physician and community activist in his South Belfast constituency. He first was elected to a seat on the Belfast City Council in 1974. In 1995 he became the first Catholic to serve as the city's deputy mayor. He makes periodic visits to the United States to build support for the peace process in Northern Ireland.

For more information, call the Center for Irish Studies, (651) 962-5662.