Mitchell Relates North Ireland Peace Making

Some thought he would become the commissioner of baseball, others a Supreme Court Justice, but former Senator George Mitchell (D-Maine) chose instead to spend his retirement making peace in Northern Ireland.

This was how Kennedy School of Government (KSG) Dean Joseph S. Nye introduced Mitchell yesterday afternoon to an audience in the ARCO Forum.

In his speech, entitled "Making Peace," Mitchell discussed his experiences as a mediator in Northern Ireland and the circumstances leading up to the Good Friday Accord of 1998, which he helped hammer out.

He said in those negotiations, the parties at the table were used to exchanging bullets not handshakes. Mitchell said he went in "aware of the near-impossibility of the task."

"For most of the time there was very little hope of progress," Mitchell said. He was involved in the negotiations for nearly two years.

Mitchell said many factors coalesced to make the agreement possible but said the accord does not guarantee an end to violence.

"[The agreement] does not for itself provide or give peace in Northern Ireland," Mitchell said.

Mitchell also gave credit to the political leaders on both sides of the negotiations who made the concessions necessary for the agreement to work.

"They made it possible, at great political andpersonal cost," he said.

Mitchell said there was often a correlationbetween unemployment and violence in a society. Hecompared Northern Ireland to urban areas inAmerica, saying in both cases it was necessary toshow people that they had a chance at a betterlife before they would work for peace.

"There has to be hope. There has to beopportunity," Mitchell said. "Despair, lack ofopportunity breeds discontent, instability," hesaid.

After his speech, Mitchell answered questionsabout education and health care policy in the U.S.and specific conditions in Northern Ireland.

Mitchell was a senator from 1980 to 1995 and isthe author of Making Peace, a book he quoted fromat the beginning of his lecture and returned toagain at the end.

Mitchell was the recipient of the PresidentialMedal of Freedom for his efforts in NorthernIreland.

Former Senator David Pryor (D-Ark.)--now afellow at the Institute of Politics(IOP)--preceded Nye and opened the speech withhigh praise for his former Capitol Hill colleague.

"There is no one whom I admire more for hishonesty and courage than George Mitchell," Pryorsaid.

The forum was co-sponsored by theHarvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, the KSGDemocratic Caucus, the KSG Irish Caucus and theIOP's Student Advisory Committee.

--Vasant M. Kamath contributed to the reportingof this article.

"They made it possible, at great political andpersonal cost," he said.

Mitchell said there was often a correlationbetween unemployment and violence in a society. Hecompared Northern Ireland to urban areas inAmerica, saying in both cases it was necessary toshow people that they had a chance at a betterlife before they would work for peace.

"There has to be hope. There has to beopportunity," Mitchell said. "Despair, lack ofopportunity breeds discontent, instability," hesaid.

After his speech, Mitchell answered questionsabout education and health care policy in the U.S.and specific conditions in Northern Ireland.

Mitchell was a senator from 1980 to 1995 and isthe author of Making Peace, a book he quoted fromat the beginning of his lecture and returned toagain at the end.

Mitchell was the recipient of the PresidentialMedal of Freedom for his efforts in NorthernIreland.

Former Senator David Pryor (D-Ark.)--now afellow at the Institute of Politics(IOP)--preceded Nye and opened the speech withhigh praise for his former Capitol Hill colleague.

"There is no one whom I admire more for hishonesty and courage than George Mitchell," Pryorsaid.

The forum was co-sponsored by theHarvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, the KSGDemocratic Caucus, the KSG Irish Caucus and theIOP's Student Advisory Committee.

--Vasant M. Kamath contributed to the reportingof this article.