Peace People

Peace People is a peace activist group founded in 1976 to protest the ‘troubles’ violence in Northern Ireland. Together, the founders Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Betty Williams, and Ciaran McKeown, organised rallies, and peace marches with as many as 20,000 people joining each Saturday to march from the Falls and Ormeau Roads to Belfast city centre. Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Betty Williams were both awarded the 1976 Norwegian People of Peace Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize the same year. The Peace People were instrumental to the peace process in Northern Ireland. They called for peace talks, campaigned to Repeal the Emergency Provisions Act, led a rehabilitation programme, and protested the ill-treatment of detainees at RUC holding centres. Today, their work continues to promote non-violence and human rights on a global scale, engaging in dialogue and protest around the world, including Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Australia, and the USA. Mairead Corrigan Maguire helped launch a global 'Stop Rape' campaign from the Democratic Republic of Congo (2012), and, along with fellow peace activist Ann Patterson, was part of a delegation from North Korea to the demilitarised zone on the border with South Korea (2015) and campaigned at the US Consulate for Trump and Putin to work together for zero nuclear and zero war (2017).  

This archive was donated by peace activist and Peace People member Ann Patterson. It contains video footage and digital photographs documenting her activism and peace efforts in conflict zones worldwide from 2006-2018, including a Peace and Humanitarian mission to Syria, Nobel Women's Initiative Conference in Germany, and involvement in peace delegations to Israel, Palestine, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and North and South Korea. Selected further documents relating to Peace People activity come from the Peace People ephemera of the Northern Ireland Political Collection at the Linen Hall Library.