MITCHELL WARNS AGAINST ALLOWING PEACE TO SLIP
Mitchell warns against allowing peace to 'slip'
NORTHERN Ireland's political leaders must not let the chance of peace slip, former Senator George Mitchell has warned.
After a speech at the University of Liverpool, where he was given an honorary law degree, the man who brokered the Good Friday Agreement said he remained optimistic about the success of the peace process.
On decommissioning he said: "I think it is a very difficult, emotional and very important issue, but the political leaders must not let this chance of peace slip away after so much has happened and been done by the people, the governments and leaders."
In his speech he talked about his experiences following the Omagh bombing last August 15 which killed 29 people and left hundreds more injured, and of two victims in particular.
One was Claire Gallagher "the 15-year-old lively, aspiring pianist who lost both eyes in that bombing. As we spoke she sat with two large patches where her eyes used to be, she was an example of courage and grace."
The second was Michael Monaghan, who lost his wife, daughter and his wife's mother in the atrocity, three generations of his family.
Senator Mitchell said: He was left with three children under the age of five. One of them Patrick, asks him every day "When is mum coming home.
"To see the terrible and irreplaceable loss of both Claire and Michael urged that the peace process must move forward.
He spoke about what he described as "the especially black and dangerous time of Christmas 1997 and early 1998 when there was "a definite effort by men of violence on both sides to destroy the process".
Senator Mitchell said the turning point came when he made the decision to set a deadline for the talks.
NORTHERN Ireland's political leaders must not let the chance of peace slip, former Senator George Mitchell has warned.
After a speech at the University of Liverpool, where he was given an honorary law degree, the man who brokered the Good Friday Agreement said he remained optimistic about the success of the peace process.
On decommissioning he said: "I think it is a very difficult, emotional and very important issue, but the political leaders must not let this chance of peace slip away after so much has happened and been done by the people, the governments and leaders."
In his speech he talked about his experiences following the Omagh bombing last August 15 which killed 29 people and left hundreds more injured, and of two victims in particular.
One was Claire Gallagher "the 15-year-old lively, aspiring pianist who lost both eyes in that bombing. As we spoke she sat with two large patches where her eyes used to be, she was an example of courage and grace."
The second was Michael Monaghan, who lost his wife, daughter and his wife's mother in the atrocity, three generations of his family.
Senator Mitchell said: He was left with three children under the age of five. One of them Patrick, asks him every day "When is mum coming home.
"To see the terrible and irreplaceable loss of both Claire and Michael urged that the peace process must move forward.
He spoke about what he described as "the especially black and dangerous time of Christmas 1997 and early 1998 when there was "a definite effort by men of violence on both sides to destroy the process".
Senator Mitchell said the turning point came when he made the decision to set a deadline for the talks.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0684
Published Date: 19-Feb-99
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