Israel event will be jointly staged at City Hall and University College Cork

A controversial conference about Israel is to go ahead in Cork at the end of the month but will be jointly staged at City Hall and University College Cork.

With concerns about potential security issues and disruption to staff and students from threatened protests, UCC managers asked in January for certain conditions to be met before permission could be granted to hold it on the campus.

The dates of March 31 to April 2 were confirmed last month, but the organisers yesterday announced changes to the original arrangements. Cork City Hall will now be the venue for the first two days, with speakers and audience moving to UCC on the third and final day. UCC had faced criticism that the earlier postponement was the result of an attack on academic freedom, after opposition about the proposed subject of papers and the range of speakers described as being predominantly anti-Israeli.