Dalai Lama, Annan nominated for peace award

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and outgoing UN secretary-general Kofi Annan are among those nominated for a prestigious Irish international honour.

Murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya and retiring Church of Ireland Primate Dr Robin Eames are also in the frame for the 2006 Tipperary International Peace Award.

The Tipperary Peace Convention, which will announce the winner on January 1, received dozens of nominations from members of the public in recent weeks.

U2 frontman Bono makes his annual appearance on the list of nominees, and the name of peace campaigner and songwriter Tommy Sands has also been suggested by the public.

Retired Catholic Primate and Archbishop of Armagh Dr Cardinal Daly and Indian-born spiritualist Prem Rawat are also listed.

Last year’s winner was the assassinated former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri.

The award will be presented during the Festival of Peace in Tipperary Town in April 2007.

Previous recipients of the annual prize, which was inaugurated in 1984, include murdered Irish-born aid worker Margaret Hassan in 2004 as well as Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton and Bob Geldof.