Peace charity gives Murphy top award

Northern Secretary Paul Murphy was tonight honoured with a prestigious award given by Ireland’s largest peace charity.

Mr Murphy, in the United States to attend a series of St Patrick’s Day events, was awarded the Peace Dove by Co-operation Ireland.

Previous winners include former SDLP leader John Hume and George Mitchell, the US senator who chaired the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement.

The charity was formed 25 years ago to encourage practical co-operation between the peoples of Ireland as a means of promoting peace.

Accepting the award in New York’s Plaza Hotel, Mr Murphy said: “I feel deeply honoured to accept this award from an organisation which has done so much to build peace in Ireland.

“To be named in the company of [Irish] President Mary McAleese, George Mitchell and John Hume, friends of the peace process and whom I am proud to call my friends, makes the award even more special.”

He added: “The Prime Minister and myself continue to believe that the political leaders who have invested so much in the peace process are as committed today as they have ever been.

“We share the vision of a new Northern Ireland, free from injustice and conflict and I believe that will come because the people of Northern Ireland, republican and nationalist, loyalist and unionist, want it to happen.

“Northern Ireland is moving forward, economically, socially, culturally and in many other ways. Much of this successful development has been encouraged by support from across the Atlantic and from Co-operation Ireland, who have done so much to see armed conflict relegated to the history books.”