The event followed on from Queen's University's Building Peace event which marked 20 years of the Good Friday Agreement. Building Peace, which attracted global attention, was held in Belfast in April and attended by high profile political figures including former US President Bill Clinton. Among the issues addressed were the complex political developments of the past two decades in the north, as well as current challenges and future possibilities.

The Yale conference featured key figures in the politics of NOrthern Ireland, including Senator George J. Mitchell, Chancellor of Queen's University (1999 to 2009); Bertie Ahern, who served as Irish Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008; General John de Chastelain, Chair of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning in Northern Ireland; Jonathan Powell, former Chief of Staff to Tony Blair (1995 to 2007); and from Co-operation Ireland, Chairman, Dr Christopher Moran and Chief Executive, Peter Sheridan.

Delegates from the University included: Professor Richard English, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation and Engagement; Professor Kieran McEvoy, Professor of Law and Transitional Justice and Senior Research Fellow in the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. There were also delegates present from the Northern Ireland political parties involved in the Good Friday Agreement including Peter Robinson, Monica McWilliams and Mitchell McLaughlin, along with representatives of the British, Irish and American Governments.