Dr. Siobhán Fitzpatrick/ Northern Ireland: Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC) Regional Vice-Chair (International Network on Peace Building for Young Children) 

9 October 2026 

My heart is broken for this enormous loss. My thoughts and prayers are with Ghassan Issa and Youssef’s family and friends. We do not meet too many outstanding individuals in our life journey, he was certainly one of the most inspirational leaders that I ever met.

“At  dheis  De go  raibh a  anam” is a traditional Irish phrase meaning may his soul be on the right hand of God.