Conor Houston to lead the EU Debate NI as Programme Director

Conor Houston is joining the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building team as Programme Director for the “EU Debate NI”.

Conor is a lawyer, influencer, strategist, collaborator, innovator and active citizen. 

He is a graduate of the School of Law at Queen’s University Belfast and obtained his masters in International Human Rights law before studying at the prestigious European Public Law Group Academy in Greece.

In his time as a lawyer he represented clients to the Supreme Court of both the UK and ROI and was involved in high profile and pioneering cases.  He also represented his profession internationally and was the first lawyer from NI to serve on the Executive Board of the European Young Bar Association, which included speaking at a forum for young lawyers at the European Parliament and representing over 36 organisations across Europe.  Conor was the youngest solicitor to be elected to serve on the Council of the Law Society of Northern Ireland.

Conor is a Fellow of the U.S. State Department Rule of Law programme and was UK National Leader in 2015 of Team UK at the Ship for World Young Leaders programme – an international leadership and cross-cultural exchange hosted by the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan.  The Vice-Chancellor of Ulster University hosted a honorary guest lecture delivered by Conor in recognition of this achievement.

Conor is passionate about youth empowerment and has been involved in the establishment of groups and programmes to promote new models of leadership including Young Leaders NI and Young Influencers.  He has spoken at a number of conferences and events, including the British Irish Association and was Event Manager at TEDxWomen hosted by CDPB at Stormont Castle in May 2015.