Following the construction of the Island of Ireland Round Tour and Peace Park in 1998, one of its two prime movers, Glen Barr OBE, Chief Executive of the Maydown Ebrington Group, proposed to the town council of Mesen/Messines in 1999 the refurbishment of a section of the old primary school into an International School for Peace Studies.

From the very outset there was great local support for the concept and the people of Mesen/Messines, through their representatives in Stad Mesen,in particular, previous Burgomeister Jan Liefooghe and the present Burgomeister Sandy Evrard, and Town Clerk and Chief Executive Patrick Florissoone, who have individually and collectively demonstrated their commitment to not only support the projects in principle, but in myriad practical ways.

They have, in fact, along with Glen Barr OBE of the Maydown Ebrington Group in Northern Ireland and Denis Rowan of FÁS in the Republic of Ireland, become drivers of the projects because they believe that the future success of the International School for Peace Studies will add significantly to the cultural-tourism product of the greater region, will lead to the development of further associated ventures, and will give visitors to the area an anchor location from which to base their travels.

Remembrance of the unique event of 7th June 1917 has been the inspiration for the International School for Peace Studies from the outset. This initiative led to a major International Service of Remembrance when the three Heads of State - President Mary McAleese, Queen Elizabeth II and King Albert II – came together on the 11th November 1998 to dedicate the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Messines to the memory and honour of all the soldiers from the Island of Ireland who died in the Great War.

This project owes its success to the courage and support of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern T.D. and the office of the First and Deputy First Ministers and other contributors, such as The International Fund for Ireland, Department of Education and Learning (N.I) and F.A.S. (R.o.I.).
The window of opportunity for mutual understanding and respectful tolerance of deep difference, which had been barred to many Irish people for over 80 years for many different reasons, has been reopened in Messines through the generous openness of all who have engaged in its work and all who believe in its future.

Messines and the work of the International School for Peace Studies have been recognised by many, including the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern T.D., as having made an invaluable contribution to the whole peace process in Ireland, and the subsequent political agreement in Northern Ireland has added immeasurably to Irish people’s understanding and appreciation of the respect due to other communities who differ diametrically from one’s own.

In Mesen/Messines, the spirit of all those young men who have haunted the battle-fields of France and Flanders for so long, can at last be laid to rest, because their own people can now remember them with pride, and at the same time can now appreciate and be reconciled to the enormous contribution of the other community in their own country.