St Patrick’s Symposium on Reminiscence

Jo Berry

Jo Berry works to resolve conflict. Sixteen years after her father was killed by an IRA bomb, Jo met the man responsible, Patrick Magee. This initial meeting led to them sharing a platform together internationally, on over three hundred occasions.Through her charity ‘Building Bridges for Peace,’ Jo demonstrates how empathy can resolve and end conflict, by delivering workshops to young people on conflict transformation, positive change making, and challenging violent extremism.  Jo is an advocate for Restorative Justice, and a Restorative Justice facilitator.

Professor Brandon Hamber

Professor Brandon Hamber is the John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace at Ulster University based at the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE). He is also a member of the Transitional Justice Institute.  He trained as a Clinical Psychologist in South Africa. He has undertaken consulting and research work, and participated in various peace and reconciliation initiatives in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Liberia, Mozambique, Bosnia, Colombia, the Basque Country and Sierra Leone, among others.

Seán Hewitt

Seán Hewitt is a poet, lecturer and literary critic. His debut collection, Tongues of Fire (Cape, 2020), was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. In 2019, he won an Eric Gregory Award, and he is also the winner of the Resurgence Prize, 2017. His memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, will be published in 2022.