Mairead Maguire (neé Máiread Corrigan) (born 27 January 1944, Northern Ireland) , also known as Máiread Corrigan-Maguire, was the co-founder, with Betty Williams of the Community of Peace People, an organization which attempts to encourage a peaceful resolution of the Northern Ireland Troubles, for which they were awarded the the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. Máiread Corrigan became active with the peace movement after three children of her sister, Anne Maguire, were run over and killed by a car driven by Danny Lennon, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) man who was fatally shot by British troops while trying to make a getaway. Anne Maguire later committed suicide.Betty Williams had witnessed the event, and soon after the two co-founded "Women for Peace", which later became the "Community for Peace People". In 1981 she married Jackie Maguire, the widower of her sister Anne. She was imprisoned by the Israelis (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mairead_Corrigan ).
Máiread Maguire on 2 million Afghan violent deaths (2012): “I have come here to give my support to the campaign for 2 million friends of the Afghan people. You have chosen to run this campaign because you remember that 2 million people from Afghanistan have died in violence under war, under killing.
We’re here today to remember every single one of those people who died needlessly and for this I am sorry, and I say, “Sorry to the Afghan people for what the governments of the US and NATO and other governments have done to the Afghan people, and I say, ‘Not in my name.’”
We’re here on behalf of the Afghan Peace Volunteers to give a petition to the UN and that petition is to ask the UN to broker a cease fire for Afghanistan amongst all the warring factions here in Afghanistan.
Peace is possible. You have to believe that when you’re working for peace.
The killing must stop in order for peace to develop and grow.
But a passion for peace can come from the people. And that passion, working for peace, marching for peace, demanding your politicians make these….
The people can do this when you believe that peace is possible. All the killing, all the war must stop...
We acknowledged---and the Afghan government and the Taliban will surely acknowledge there will not be a military solution or a
Or a paramilitary armed solution to our deep ethnic political economic, human problems that can only be solved in a human, compassionate, loving way not by militarism and war.
Most especially to the US to the UK and to NATO forces:
Withdraw from Afghanistan.
You’re doing more damage by being here and using military force.
” [1].
[1]. Máiread Maguire speech “War is a crime”, “Noble Laureate Mairead Maguire with Afghan peace volunteers”, Scoop, 17 December 2012: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1212/S00099/nobel-laureate-mairead-maguire-with-afghan-peace-volunteers.htm .