University Hebdo event to go ahead

A Northern Ireland university criticised for cancelling a conference on the Charlie Hebdo murders has announced that the event will now go ahead. Queen's University Belfast will host a symposium in June on the fallout from the massacre at the satirical magazine in Paris and its implications for free speech, reports the Belfast Telegraph.

A furore erupted recently when delegates and speakers were told it had been scrapped. They claimed they were informed that the university's authorities had axed the event over concerns about security and Queen's University’s reputation.

After a period without commenting on the reasons for cancellation, Queen's University released a statement saying that it was because a risk assessment had not been completed. The university insisted the issue was not related to "academic freedom". The next day the institution released a further statement announcing that a risk assessment would be undertaken. Last week, the university announced that the exercise had been completed and the event would now go ahead.
Full report on the Belfast Telegraph site