CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Noel Fahey, the ambassador of Ireland to the United States, will be the guest speaker at this year's European Union Day at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on April 20.
The annual event, hosted by the UI's European Union Center, is free and open to the public, and will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana.
"EU Day is the European Union Center's most important annual event," said Kieran Donaghy, the center's director. "Each year the center invites the ambassador to the United States from the country that holds the presidency of the EU to come to campus and present an address on the state of the EU and transatlantic relations. This spring, Ireland holds the six-month rotating presidency. Under Irish leadership the EU will formally expand to 25 member states and may also approve a constitution."
Donaghy said the ambassador likely will discuss expansion plans and constitutional reform, among other issues, during his visit to the campus. Also attending the event, he said, will be representatives of the Chicago-based consulates of European nations.
The EU Center is one of 10 centers established in 1998 by the European Commission and leading research universities in the United States to promote research, development of curriculum, and public education on the European Union and its relations with the United States. The center recently was designated a National Resource Center in European Union Studies by the U.S. Department of Education.