• Description of the Organisation
• Activities
• Current Members of the EFACIS Steering Committee
• Constitution

The European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies (EFACIS) was founded to promote interest in and support the expansion of Irish Studies throughout Europe. Our focus is the study and debate of all aspects of society, culture and literature of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Irish diaspora within the humanities and social sciences. EFACIS encourages as wide a range of organisations as possible to raise the profile of the subject area, to enhance the participation levels in Irish Studies and to further contacts between those involved in Irish Studies in the region.

EFACIS promotes the dissemination of current research in Irish Studies in Europe with a new series aptly entitled "Irish Studies in Europe" which gathers selected papers from EFACIS conferences. The series is published and distributed by Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier (WVT).

For more information on the series and on how to order, please visit the link "EFACIS Publication Series" on the left.

If you would like to receive more information on how to contribute to future volumes, please contact the series editor, Werner Huber (see profile).

11-12 December 1998 Université Charles-de-Gaulle Lille 3 France.

17-18 December 1999 Université Paris III (Sorbonne) France.

6-9 December 2001 University of Aarhus, Denmark.

11-13 December 2003 Braga, Portugal.

8-10 December 2005 Göteborg, Sweden.

13-15 December 2007 Sevilla, Spain.

September 2009 Vienna, Austria

In co-operation with the Socrates/Erasmus Programme, members of EFACIS have organised a number of summer courses in Irish Studies providing a valuable forum for both students and teachers in the field. The Intensive Programme is open to students (undergraduate and postgraduate) from participating universities in Europe who may claim ECTS credits for their work on the course. To date two Intensive Programmes in Irish Studies have taken place, hosted by Dr. Hedwig Schwall and Dr. Catherine Maignant with Dr. Bernard Escarbelt respectively:

September 4-16, 2000 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Guest speakers: John Banville and Nuala NĂ­ Dhomhnaill.

September 10-22, 2001 Université Charles-de-Gaulle Lille 3, France.
Students and lecturers from across Europe have participated, including those from universities in Aarhus, Amsterdam, Braga, Cambridge, Chemnitz, Cork, Debrecen, Dublin, Gdansk, Göteborg, Leuven, Lille, Prague, Rennes, Verona and Wolverhampton.

EFACIS hopes to continue these events in the future. In case you are interested in getting constructively involved or would like to contribute to the re-establishment of the Intensive Programme Irish Studies, please contact Clare Wallace.

President:	Scott Brewster
Vice-President:	Hedwig Schwall
Secretary:	Carmen Zamorano Llena
Treasurer:	Mark Schreiber
Executive Members:	David Clark, Sean Crosson, Elke D'hoker, Irene Gilsenan-Nordin, Derek Hand, Filomena Louro, Valerie Peyronel , Clare Wallace
Auditors:	Hedda Friberg-Harnesk, Ondrej Pilny
Co-opted members:	Werner Huber (conference organiser 2009)

Objectives: The objectives of EFACIS are:

• to develop, in a European context, teaching and research in Irish Studies as an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field of study;
• to hold biennial conferences;
• to affiliate national and regional associations and centres of Irish Studies and to co-ordinate its activities with other organisations within the field of Irish Studies;
• to further the dissemination of research, critical inquiry and educational ideas in Irish Studies;
• to encourage and facilitate the establishment of research and teaching networks and projects on a European level.

Membership: Membership is registered through the Secretary of the Steering Committee. Membership of EFACIS is always individual, and is open to scholars, students or teachers, whether attached to centres or associations or working individually. Registration of and payment for membership may be administered by affiliated national and regional associations and centres. Associations and centres shall inform the Secretary of the names and addresses of their associated members and shall pay their fee through their national organisation. Registered membership is a requirement for members to present papers at conferences held under the auspices of EFACIS, to one vote at the general meeting, to the publications of EFACIS and to receive electronic newsletters. The Steering Committee may communicate with members via e-mail and the website.

Membership fee: Members pay a biennial fee. The size of the fee is determined by the steering committee subject to the approval of the general meeting.
Fees are due on 10 December in the year of the biennial conference and may be charged by the organiser of the conference.

The General Meeting: The General Meeting is held in connection with the biennial conference and is open to all members. The General Meeting debates and approves the report of the Steering Committee, formulates the policies of EFACIS, elects the officers of the Steering Committee and two auditors.
General meetings must be announced at least four months in advance. The announcement must call for nominations for all offices of the Steering Committee. The agenda of the General Meeting and a list of nominated candidates, incl. statements of the candidates, should be circulated electronically to members at least one month prior to the meeting.
Only members have the right to vote. Each member has one vote. Any matter before the meeting, except constitutional amendments, is adopted by a simple majority of the votes given. In case of a tie, the president casts the deciding vote.
Every member of EFACIS has the right to nominate her/his candidate for a position in the Steering Committee. An extraordinary General Meeting may be called by one half of the members or at the request of the majority of the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee: The Steering Committee consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer, the Secretary and five members elected by the General Meeting for a period of two years.
The office of the President may only be held for two consecutive periods. The Steering Committee must be largely representative of the affiliated associations and centres.
The Steering Committee shall be empowered to co-opt up to three further members with a view of maintaining a balanced representation of the membership or of organising events within the auspices of EFACIS.
The Steering Committee is responsible for advancing the objectives of EFACIS, as expressed in Article 2, and for presenting a general and financial report to the General Meeting. The financial report, signed by the auditors, shall be distributed in written form at the General Meeting.
The Steering Committee is responsible for the production and circulation of an electronic newsletter to all affiliated bodies and members of EFACIS. It is also responsible for producing and maintaining the EFACIS website on the World Wide Web as a service to members and others interested in Irish Studies.

Amendments: The present constitution may be amended by the General Meeting by a majority of two thirds of the voting members. Amendments may be proposed by members of the Steering Committee and by individual and corporate members. Proposed amendments must be communicated to all members at least one month prior to the General Meeting.

Dissolution: In the event of the dissolution of EFACIS, its assets shall be used for purposes compatible with Article 2 subject to the decision of the General Meeting.