Dr. Byrne is a native of Ireland. He is founding director of the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice at St. Paul's College, as well as head of Canada’s first PhD program in peace and conflict studies and the joint MA program in peace and conflict studies. Dr. Byrne is a recipient of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) research grant (2009-2012), co-recipient of a SSHRC research grant (2005-2008), and a United States Institute of Peace research grant (1997) to explore the role of external economic aid in the peace-building process in Northern Ireland.

His publications include 65 articles and book chapters, as well as seven books, including: Growing Up in a Divided Society: The Influence of Conflict on Belfast Schoolchildren; Reconcilable Differences: Turning Points in Ethnopolitical Conflicts; Handbook of Conflict Analysis and Resolution; and The International Fund for Ireland and the European Union Peace I Fund: Building the Peace Dividend in Northern Ireland.

Byrne is a former vice-president of the international sector of the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution and served as editor-in-chief of the journal Peace and Conflict Studies.