The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Nobel winner recounts successes, looks to future

Maguire thanked Marquette Student Government Speaker Commissioner Susan Haarman, a senior, for her persistent invitations to the campus.

“I kept getting all these e-mails to my home saying ‘Please come to Marquette,'” Maguire said. “So if you ever want something done, just get on the e-mails and do it.”

Maguire’s work for peace began after witnessing the death of her young nephews and niece, struck by a car driven by an Irish Republican Army member. Along with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown, Maguire founded the “Community of the Peace People” movement to end violence in Northern Ireland.

Maguire identified the problems in Northern Ireland as multi-dimensional, calling for a multi-dimensional approach to solving them.

Story continues below advertisement

“If we can do it in Northern Ireland,” Maguire said, “it can be done anywhere.”

Maguire said that in the first six months of Peace People’s operation, the rate of violence dropped 70 percent.

“We aren’t naïve,” Maguire said. “Violence is only the flower of the root of injustice. The root is the lack of human rights and equality.”

Another problem is the question of identity, Maguire said. In the ethnic-political conflicts experienced in Northern Ireland, two groups with very different identities grew up alongside each other but never learned to be friends.

“It’s too simple to say it is a Catholic-Protestant conflict,” Maguire said.

The conflict doesn’t stem from theological differences, according to Maguire, but from refusal to understand the dynamics of two identities — one British, Protestant and Unionist, and the other Irish, Catholic and Nationalist.

Maguire expressed hope about the future of Northern Ireland.

“Identities are changing, and the people are beginning to recognize after suffering 35 years of death and destruction we have to learn to work as a diverse people,” Maguire said.

She said her hope came from the adoption of a different political perspective in the region of Northern Ireland.

“In the past, the Unionists looked to London. The Nationalists looked to Dublin. Now, we look to each other to see where hope lies,” Maguire said.

Both the Anglican and Catholic churches “must stop being ambivalent about violence,” she said. “It is against Christian teaching.” She advocated bringing “that Jesus spirit” of non-violence back to “revive and renew” the churches.

Maguire’s quest for peace has taken her around the world. She visited Iraq in 1999, and said what she saw there led her to strongly oppose the United States’ involvement in Iraq.

“Somebody has to take responsibility,” Maguire said. “The invasion was immoral, illegal and cruel. U.S. soldiers fought a war that didn’t need to be fought.”

Maguire participated in a 30-day fast outside the White House last March in protest of the war with Iraq. She said she had “great hope for America’s future” but blames U.S. politicians for hurting the world “big time.”

Maguire said she loves America, calling it a brilliant country. However, she said the world expects better of America and that the nation is capable of being better.

“We need the U.S. to help change the world,” Maguire said.

After a standing ovation from the audience, Maguire took questions from the crowd. One student asked her how he could start making a difference.

After the address and questions, Maguire said she was very impressed with the students at Marquette.

“They are very compassionate and have good hearts,” she said. “They are very socially and politically aware and keen to work for peace and justice.”

University Provost Madeline Wake seemed touched by Maguire’s courage.

“She was courageous in a gentle, joyful way and challenged us all to be what we say when we say ‘be the difference,'” Wake said.