On August 19th Dr Diarmuid Martin will be the first Catholic Archbishop of Dublin to preach in the Church of Ireland Cathedral of St Patrick in Killala, Co Mayo. The event will form part of this year's Humbert School.
He will deliver the Bishop Stock peace address, named after the Church of Ireland Bishop of Killala and Achonry, Dr Joseph Stock, whose palace was commandeered by Gen Humbert in August 1798.
The vote of thanks to Dr Martin will be proposed by Fr Kevin Hegarty, former editor of Intercom and Céide magazines, who recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination. The current Church of Ireland Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achony, Dr Richard Henderson, will give a reflection on "Ireland Transformed".
Others taking part in the Humbert School this year will include John Hume, former taoiseach Albert Reynolds, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, former EU commissioner Padraig Flynn, author Tim Pat Coogan, and leader of the Seanad Mary O'Rourke.
The school's theme is "The Transformation of Ireland, 1987-2006". Its director, journalist John Cooney, said yesterday it would run from August 17th to 20th and be both a celebration of its own two decades of debates and a tribute to the founder of the Land League, Michael Davitt, who died 100 years ago.
To highlight Davitt's conversion from the physical force tradition to democratic politics, the school, on its opening night, will present Michael Davitt Awards to Mr Hume, Mr Reynolds and Mr Kenny.
Padraig Flynn will be guest speaker at the 20th annual dinner on August 18th, to be held in honour of the late Charles Haughey. The Humbert School was launched by the then taoiseach on July 28th, 1987.
"Mr Haughey predicted that the Humbert School would be yet a further manifestation of a special relationship between Ireland and France that stretched far back in history," Mr Cooney said.
Other participants include Paul Gillespie of The Irish Times, Sean Boyne of the Sunday World, James Laffey of the Western People, author Bernard O'Hara, historian Dr Sheila Molloy, Tom Arnold of Concern, and Colm O'Gorman of One in Four.
