Mairead Maguire – Ireland 1976
Mairead Maguire was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her extraordinary actions to end the sectarian violence in her native Northern Ireland. She shares the award with Betty Williams.
Mairead was the aunt of the three children who died as a result of being hit by an Irish Republican Army getaway car after its driver was shot by a British soldier. Mairead responded to the violence facing her family and community by organizing, with Betty Williams, massive peace demonstrations appealing for an end to the bloodshed.
The two organized a peace march attended by 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women, to the graves of the Maguire children. The march was disrupted by members of the IRA, who accused them of being influenced by the British. The following week, 35,000 people marched with Betty and Mairead, demanding an end to the violence in their country.
The pair, along with journalist Ciaran McKeown, also founded Peace People, a movement committed to building a just and peaceful society through nonviolent social action. Mairead currently serves as Honorary President.
In the thirty years since receiving the award, Mairead has dedicated her life to promoting peace, both in Northern Ireland and around the world. Her message is simple —nonviolence is the only way to achieve a peaceful and just society. Working with community groups throughout Northern Ireland, as well as with political and church leaders, she has sought to promote dialogue between the deeply divided communities of Catholics and Protestants.
A graduate of Ecumenical Studies from the Irish School of Ecumenics, Maguire works with inter-church and inter-faith organizations and is a member of the International Peace Council. She is a Patron of the Methodist Theological College, and Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education. She is also the author of The Vision of Peace: Faith and Hope in Northern Ireland, the second edition of which was recently published by Orbis Books.
Nobel Peace Prize
The Peace People
Books
The Vision of Peace: Faith and Hope in Northern Ireland (2010)
Statements & Media
Click here for the latest media and statements from Mairead Maguire.
Quotes
We need radical thinking, creative ideas, and imagination.
If we want to reap the harvest of peace and justice in the future, we will have to sow seeds of nonviolence here and now, in the present.
We reject the way the world is at the moment and we don’t accept nuclear weapons.
We want to disarm human hearts and human beings, one by one, country by country.
We can choose to do this individually, by seeking truth and living our lives with as much integrity as possible.
One great hope lies in the fact that there is a new consciousness in our World, particularly among young people.