Guest
of Honor:
Padraig O'Malley
Peace Negotiator
|
Toastmaster:
Kevin Cullen
Boston Globe
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Special
Guest:
James T. Brett
The New England Council
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The
Eire Society of Boston Honors Peace
Negotiator Padraig O'Malley at the 2008
Gold Medal Dinner & Award Ceremony
at
the Omni Parker House Hotel, Boston
The Eire Society of
Boston was proud to
bestow the 2008 Gold Medal Award to Professor
Padraig O'Malley, Irish peace negotiator,
distinguished professor at the University
of Massachusetts, Boston and published
writer. The Gold Medal Dinner and Awards
Ceremony took place on
April 3rd, 2008 at the Omni Parker House,
Boston.
 Padraig
O'Malley was born in Dublin Ireland in
1942. He was
educated at University College, Dublin,
and at Yale, Tufts and Harvard universities
in the United States.
Professor O'Malley has authored many
books, among them the award-winning Uncivil
Wars: Ireland Today, Biting
at the Grave, and, most recently, Shades
of Difference, Mac Maharaj and the Struggle
for South Africa. He is recipient
of the International Association of University
Presidents Peace Award (1985) and the
Chancellor's Award for Distinguished
Scholars (1985).
Padraig O'Malley is chiefly known for
his peace and reconciliation work in
Northern
Ireland,
South Africa and Iraq. For most of his professional
life, he
has been involved with the conflict in Northern
Ireland.
Working with all the political parties
to the conflict he convened the Amherst
Conference on Northern Ireland (Massachusetts,
1975), the Airlie House Conference (Virginia,
1985) and co–convened the Arniston
Conference with the government of South
Africa (Western Cape, 1997). In 1987
O'Malley initiated a meeting
with the dissident Northern
Irish hosted by Nelson Mandela
in
South Africa known as the Great
Indaba. In 1992, he participated
in bringing some of the South African
figures in that transition to Boston
for a meeting with representatives of
the factions in Northern Ireland.
Most recently, O'Malley helped arrange
a 2007 conference at a resort
in Finland, where
16 Iraqis
met
with
experienced negotiators from South Africa
and Ireland who described the processes
toward peace in their countries.
To signify the 2008
Gold Medal Awards, the Eire Society
of Boston elevated the venue to take
place in the exquisite Rooftop Ballroom
at the historic Omni Parker House
Hotel in downtown Boston. The Dinner
will
featured special guests such
as James
T. Brett of the New England Council,
Irish Consul General David Barry
and Boston Globe writer Kevin Cullen
as
Toastmaster of Ceremonies.
About the Gold Medal Awards
The Eire Society's Gold Medal is awarded annually to a person of who has made
significant contributions to benefit society and to their chosen fields of expertise.
Previous recipients include filmmakers John Ford and John Huston, Irish actresses
Siobhan McKenna and Maureen O'Hara, Irish poet Seamus Heaney, U.S. Ambassadors
to Ireland William V. Shannon and Jean Kennedy Smith, former Speaker of the U.S.
House of Representatives John W. McCormack and President John F. Kennedy.
View The Gold Medal Awards Main Page...
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