10th Anniversary Belfast Event Reunites Northern Ireland Peace Negotiators

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More than 300 guests gathered in Belfast yesterday to hear the negotiators of the Belfast Agreement discuss the historic negotiations, which brought about an end to the decades-long conflict and ushered in an era of peace, which culminated in the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly last year. The US-Ireland Alliance hosted this event, which, for the first time, brought together on the same stage, fourteen of the negotiators of the 10th anniversary of the Agreement.

The world’s press descended on the even which included Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, former US Senator George Mitchell, General John de Chastelain, John Hume, Gerry Adams, Mark Durkan, Sir Reg Empey, David Andrews, Liz O’Donnell, Secretary of State for Wales Paul Murphy, Monica McWilliams, Lord Alderdice, Dawn Purvis, and David Adams. Video tributes of former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam and David Ervine were shown.

Commenting on the event, Trina Vargo, President of US- Ireland Alliance said, “ People who had acrimonious debates 10 years ago were genuinely happy to be together. There was a warmth and respect that might give hope to others in the seeming intractable conflicts around the world.”

It was generally agreed by the panel that ‘trust’ might not have been achieved but ‘understanding’ was and that that was crucial to a positive outcome. It was also noted that the process is still a work in progress. The event was moderated by BBC presenter, Noel Thompson. The majority of audience consisted of the nearly 100 alumni of the US-Ireland Alliance’s George J. Mitchell Scholarship program and their peers (young leaders between the ages of 22 and 35) from Northern Ireland and Ireland. Other guests included former US Ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, Academy Award winner Jim Sheridan and Academy Award nominee Terry George, Baroness May Blood, Merchant Hotel owner Bill Woolsey, Geraldine Hughes, Sharon Corr and Gavan Bonnar, Sir George and Lady Quigley, US Consul General to Belfast, Susan Elliot, Sir Hugh Orde, and several of the island’s university presidents.

A dinner at the Europa followed and included performances by Duke Special and Maura O’Connell, as well as a reading by poet Michael Longley. Mitchell Scholarship program Director Mary Lou Hartman introduced the graduating class of Mitchell Scholars. Senator Mitchell presented them with their class rings, a gift from Cross Atlantic Capital Partners.

Trina Vargo, President of the US-Ireland Alliance, talked about the long-term value of the Mitchell Scholarship program which is only beginning to be felt. She told the story of Winnie Li, a 2001 graduate of the program who is now a London-based filmmaker. Ms. Li is about to shoot her second film in Northern Ireland, which is expected to pump more than one million pounds sterling into the local economy.

Dublin-based Tyrone Productions recorded the symposium and the event will be broadcast on the US-Ireland Alliance website within a week.

Major supporters of the event were Alburn, the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, The Atlantic Philanthropies, and Quinlan Private.