The Belfast International Homecoming

WE ARE TEAM BELFAST

Until the conference starts

The seventh annual Belfast International Homecoming – the largest gathering of the diaspora

in Ireland – will take place Virtually on 1-2 October 2020.

The purpose is to welcome back our global family to join in the discussion about building a better Belfast.

Covid-19 has turned the world — and the priceless connections between people — upside down.

Where once we prized connectivity, interaction, travelling, sharing, partnership and public gatherings now the watchwords are isolation, travel bans, separation, distancing and sheltering.

At the Belfast International Homecoming 2020, therefore, we plan to build a bridge between those two parallel universes so that the people of Belfast and our global family can safely connect one to the other.

Our job will be to reconnect Belfast with its far-flung diaspora so that we replace the loneliness of lockdown with the warm, virtual embrace of friendship.

We will also honour a new cohort of Belfast Ambassadors who, even if unable to travel to our city, have continued to keep the connections to Belfast alive in the conviction that better and brighter days lie ahead.

Our message at the Homecoming to the Irish and Scots-Irish disapora will be one of optimism and positivity in the knowledge, as Martin Luther King taught us, that while disappointment is finite, hope is infinite.

Come join us then — virtually — at the seventh annual Belfast International Homecoming.

#WeAreTeamBelfast

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Featured talks

Not sure what to watch? Here are some talks you won't want to miss.

Eilis Ferran, Lee-Anne Mulholland, Niall Murphy, Jack...

Legal Symposium: Professional Pathways in Law. From Belfast to Beyond.
Fatuma Maallin, Neil Shawcross, Sabine Kalke, Khalid...

Celebrating New Neighbours: In these turbulent times, we give thanks to ten exceptional individuals from other places who have made Belfast their home. Supported by Neueda
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir Managing Director, Belfast Media Group

Belfast Calling
Shane Dunne, Robert Fitzpatrick, Sarah Fraser, Kevin...

Health Topping the Bill: A roadmap to safely opening our major venues, festivals and arenas.
John Fitzpatrick & Ray O'Hanlon

Ray O'Hanlon in conversation with John Fitzpatrick
Seamus Cushley VP Research & Development, Site Lead, Belfast, Bazaarvoice

Welcome
Minister Diane Dodds Department for the Economy

Opening Message: Resetting Tourism
John McGrillen CEO, Tourism NI

Keynote: Resetting Tourism

It's time to get focused on the areas you're most interested in

Unlike physical conferences where you can end up sitting through content you just don't need, The Belfast International Homecoming is delivered entirely online. Dip in and watch the specific talks you're most interested in, or catch them all. It’s up to you!

View the schedule

2 days

102 speakers

9 categories

Celebrating New Neighbours: In these turbulent times, we give thanks to ten exceptional individuals from other places who have made Belfast their home. Supported by Neueda 01 October 2020, 06:00 PM

Fatuma Maallin, Neil Shawcross, Sabine Kalke, Khalid Khan, Dr Satish Kumar, Donna Nalongo Namukasa, Joseph Ricketts, Barbara Snowarska, Rev. Brent van der Linde & Koulla Yiasouma

DISPATCHES 02 October 2020, 03:30 PM

Mayor Martin J. Walsh & Alderman Frank McCoubrey Belfast City Council

Belfast International Homecoming Ambassador Medal Presentations 02 October 2020, 06:00 PM

Jamie Doran, Keith Nealon, Brett Carey, Barry Clarke, Barry Corr, Kevin Davis, Anita Farmer, Lynette Fay, Jim Frawley, Michael George, Geraldine Gilliland, Maura Kelly, Eugene Mullan, Máire Murphy, John O'Donoghue & Eileen Scully

Ray O'Hanlon in conversation with John Fitzpatrick 02 October 2020, 08:45 AM

John Fitzpatrick & Ray O'Hanlon Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, New York & The Irish Echo

We Are Team Belfast. Join us!

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Community

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Law