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Professor Padraig O'Malley (John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation UMass, Boston)

Padraig O'Malley is the founding Director of the FCT with over 30 years experience specializing in the complications of divided societies, such as Northern Ireland, South Africa and most recently Iraq. He has written extensively on these subjects and has been actively involved in promoting dialogue among representatives of all factions.

The premise that underlies O'Malley's work is simple: people from divided societies are in the best position to help people in other divided societies; that former protagonists, often former purveyors of violence and death who abandoned violence to resolve their differences, are best equipped to share their often tentative and difficult journeys to recognizing the necessity to abandon violence as the instrument to achieve their political aims and open the gateways to recovery, reconstruction, and reconciliation.

O'Malley is the author of a number of prize winning books on Northern Ireland including:The Uncivil Wars: Ireland Today (1983) and Biting at the Grave (1990); South Africa: Shades of Difference (2006); and The Middle East: What the Future Tells Us; forthcoming (2012).

O'Malley has monitored elections in South Africa, Mozambique, and the Philippines on behalf of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He is also a frequent contributor to The Boston Globe. O'Malley was born in Dublin. He was educated at University College, Dublin, and at Yale, Tufts and Harvard universities.

Quintin Oliver (Director, Stratagem Northern Ireland)

Quintin Oliver is a conflict resolution specialist with three decades experience from the voluntary, statutory and private sectors, working at all levels of government. In 1998, he set up and ran the successful cross-party “YES” Campaign for the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement Referendum, with important support from civic society. His conflict speciality began with anti-apartheid work in the 1970s, solidarity activity in the Middle East in the 1980s, and active involvement in applying appropriate lessons from Northern Ireland towards other regions, in the 1990s.

Quintin has applied his skills in respect to Israel and Palestine, South Africa, Cyprus (2004 Referendum), Uganda (2005 Presidential campaign), Colombia (civil society support, 2008), former Yugoslavia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and most recently Iraq. In Northern Ireland, he enjoys close and productive relations with all political parties as an adviser, lobbyist and researcher.

Nancy Riordan (Staff: John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation UMass, Boston)

Nancy Riordan heads up the UMass Boston Secretariat of the Iraq-Helsinki Project and is co-secretariat for the Forum for Cities in Transition at UMass Boston.  Nancy has several years experience working with foreign governments and NGO's in Finland, Iraq, Lebanon and Kosovo among others.

Nancy holds a MSPA, International Relations from the University of Massachusetts and a BA in Globalization Studies.

Allan Leonard (Director, Northern Ireland Foundation)

Allan Leonard is a specialist in Northern Ireland affairs, arriving from America at the time of the 1994 ceasefires. He served as a policy officer at the Northern Ireland Assembly, and held a senior management position at the Ulster Historical Foundation. Previously, he was responsible for the development and launch of the Troubled Images project at the Northern Ireland Political Collection, Linen Hall Library; this exhibit has travelled worldwide.

Allan’s professional background includes marketing, communications, exhibition and event management, policy development, and senior management. He is particularly skilled at organisational and networking matters. He received a MA degree in Irish Political Studies, from University College Dublin, and a BA degree (with Distinction) in International Relations, from Boston University.