Northern Ireland Peace Process
Since 1995, Mitchell has been active in the Northern Ireland peace process, having served as the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland under President Bill Clinton. He first led a commission that established the principles on non-violence to which all parties in Northern Ireland had to adhere and subsequently chaired the all-party peace negotiations, which led to the Belfast Peace Agreement signed on Good Friday 1998 (known since as the "Good Friday Agreement"). Mitchell's personal intervention with the parties was crucial to the success of the talks. He was succeeded as special envoy by Richard Haass.
For his involvement in the Northern Ireland peace negotiations, Mitchell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (on March 17, 1999) and the Liberty Medal (on July 4, 1998). In accepting the Liberty Medal, he stated: "I believe there’s no such thing as a conflict that can’t be ended. They’re created and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings. No matter how ancient the conflict, no matter how hateful, no matter how hurtful, peace can prevail."
Additionally, he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. For his services to the Northern Ireland peace process, in 1999 Mitchell was invested as an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE). As custom dictates, Mitchell cannot call himself "Sir George" as he is not a citizen of the United Kingdom or a Commonwealth of Nations country, and as a United States citizen, he can not accept a title of nobility.
Read more about this topic: George J. Mitchell
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