Held on 9 and 10 April 2025 at Queen’s University Belfast, this Conference brought together scholars from the UK, Ireland, and other plurinational jurisdictions to discuss the concept of parity of esteem as a legal and constitutional principle.  It explored nationality, multiculturalism, migration, citizenship, and secession, beginning in Northern Ireland, but also embracing jurisdictions such as India, Spain, and Switzerland, and in so doing advancing the field of plurinational constitutionalism.

The Keynote Lecture was provided by Professor Chris McCrudden, Mitchell Institute Fellow: Rights and Social Justice, who discussed The Perils of Ambiguity: ‘Parity of Esteem’ in the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

View the Conference Schedule here.

Organised by Mitchell Institute Fellow Professor Katy Hayward (The Politics and Security of Institutional Peacebuilding), Dr Tom Flynn (University of Essex), Anurag Deb (Queen’s University Belfast) and Dr Ewan Smith (University College London), this Conference was funded by The British Academy as part of their 2025/26 British Academy Conferences Scheme and was hosted in partnership with the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, the Schools of Law and the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, QUB and the University of Essex.

The recording of the Keynote Lecture can be viewed below:

 

Recordings of the Conference Sessions can be viewed at the links below:

Session 1: Parity of Esteem, secession, citizenship and human rights

Session 2: Parity of Esteem as a constitutional principle

Session 3: Parity of Esteem in Northern Ireland, past present and future

Session 4: Plurinationalism, consociationalism, and confederalism

Session 5: Parity of Esteem in global, theoretical, and historical context

Session 6: Future prospects of the Parity of Esteem concept