A BELFAST conference due to tackle the implications of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in France will go ahead after organisers attempted to cancel the event.
On Friday Queen’s University Belfast confirmed that it had reversed an earlier decision to pull its Charlie Hebdo Research Symposium – which is due to take place in June.
QUB came under fire from speakers booked to attend – including journalists, academics and intellectuals – when it sent an email last month stating its intention to cancel the symposium, which is being organised by the Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities.
It explained that the decision was made due to the security risk the conference may have held for the institution.
But on Friday (May 1) QUB revealed it will now go ahead with the event.
“Following the completion of a comprehensive risk assessment, undertaken in line with approved protocols, the university is pleased to confirm that the Charlie Hebdo Research Symposium, organised by the Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities, has been approved,” a spokesperson confirmed.
Charlie Hebdo writer Robert McLiam Wilson – a Belfast-native now based in Paris – praised the university this week for doing “the hardest thing there is to do” by changing their minds.
