Smith Co-Convenes Parity of Esteem Conference

20 April 2025

On 9 and 10 April, GCDC member Ewan Smith co-convened a conference on parity of esteem, together with Katy Hayward, Tom Flynn, and Anurag Deb. The conference, titled ‘Parity of Esteem as a Constitutional Principle in Northern Ireland and Beyond’, was sponsored by the British Academy and held at Queen’s University Belfast. GCDC member Colm O’Cinneide also presented at the conference.

Parity of esteem is a key component of the Good Friday Agreement. It requires the state to grant equal moral value to both the desire to stay within the state, and the desire to leave the state. This is a distinctive principle. The conference considered how parity of esteem might help to resolve territorial disputes in other plurinational constitutional settlements. Panel presentations can be found on the Queen’s University Belfast YouTube channel.