The interdisciplinary Symposium titled: Decentring the Irish World: Contemporary and New Directions in Global Irish Studies attracted both on-site and virtual researchers of Irish studies from Ireland, England, Canada, America, Spain, Argentina, India, Tunisia, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the Egyptian governorates of Matrouh, Menoufia, Tanta, Alexandria and Cairo.

H.E. Ambassador Seán O'Regan, Irish Ambassador to Egypt attended the Opening of the Symposium and shared a few words about the importance of supporting research and widening the scope of Irish Studies beyond the borders of Europe by decentering the discipline. He emphasized the importance of supporting Irish-Egyptian relations in all areas including higher education and research.

Keynote Speaker Dr Darragh Gannon, Head of Irish Studies at University College Dublin and the Vice President of the Global Irish Diaspora Congress presented a short talk that explored multi-cultural approaches for the study of contemporary issues of citizenship, diaspora, ethnicity, and race in Irish Studies.


The interdisciplinary symposium aimed to open new opportunities for global scholarly inquiry by partnering with University College Dublin, Mental Health Ireland, the Embassy of Ireland in Egypt and from the Arab world, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman College for Business and Entrepreneurship, and AfricaELTA. Main areas of research were literature, translation, language, psychology and entrepreneurship.

Decentring the discipline of Irish studies, has turned all eyes on The British University in Egypt and has emphasized the role of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities as a major influencer in shaping the research map for literary and social science scholars both locally and internationally.

As part of the symposium evening functions, a Reception and Poetry Reading concluded the opening day hosted by the Ambassador of Ireland at his residence in Cairo where guests unleashed their creativity by sharing both Irish and Egyptian poetry.