Peace People

Mairead Corrigan Maguire founded the Community of the Peace People in 1976 along with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown. Mairead was the aunt of the three Maguire children who were hit by a getaway car after its driver was shot by a soldier. The deaths prompted a series of marches throughout Northern Ireland and further afield, all demanding an end to the violence. Mairead and Betty went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976.

Prior to this Mairead worked as a private secretary to the Managing Director of a major Northern Ireland firm. She was a volunteer with the Legion of Mary, a catholic lay organization, where she began her volunteer work with young people and prisoners. She was also one of the co-founders of the Committee of the Administration of Justice, a non-sectarian group heavily involved in the debate over changes in the legal system in Northern Ireland. Since receiving a Certificate in Ecumenical studies from the Irish School of Ecumenics, Mairead has continued her work with inter-church and inter-faith organizations. She is Patron of the Methodist Theological College and Northern Ireland Council for Intergrated Education.

In September, 1981, Mairead married Jackie Maguire, widower of her sister Anne, who never recovered from the loss of her children and died in January, 1980. In addition to the remaining three children from the earlier marriage -Mark, Joanne and Marie Louise - Mairead and Jackie are the parents of John and Luke.

Mairead is the recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the Norwegian People's Prize, an honorary doctorate from Yale University and Hon. Doc. University of South Korea, College of New Rochelle (NY) and special awards from Trinity College (DC) St. Michael's College (VT). She was a special honouree of the UN 'Women of Achievement' program in 1978 and of the American Academy of Achievement. In October 1990 she was named by Bishop Gerald O'Keefe to receive the 1990 'Pacem in Terris," Peace and Freedom Award in Davenport, Iowa. In June 1992 she received the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's "Distinguished Peace Leadership Award" in California.

Mairead has travelled widely in the US, New Zeland, Korea, India, Australia, Africa, Bangladesh, Japan, Israel/Palestine, and recently in Iraq. She has also visited Latin America as the guest of Nobel Laureate Aldolfo Perez Esquivel, whom she first nominated for the Peace Prize.

A selection of her writings: "The vision of Peace - Faith and Hope in Northern Ireland" edited by John Dear, S.J., was recently published by Orbis Books ISBN - 1-50775-251-6

Mairead can be contacted at : Fredheim, 224 Lisburn Road, Belfast. Northern Ireland. BT96GE.
Tel: 028 90.663465
Fax: 028 90.683947
Info@peacepeople.com