Four Nobel Prize winners recognised for their contributions to peace in Northern Ireland will take part in Europe Day celebrations in Brussels today.
John Hume and David Trimble, joint winners of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 — the year the Belfast Agreement was signed — will join the "peace women" Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Betty Williams, who received the same joint honour in 1976.
They will be in the company of other European Nobel prize winners for a ceremony at the European Parliament marking Europe's scientific, intellectual and cultural achievements since the EU's creation 50 years ago.
Europe Day marks the unveiling of the Schuman Declaration on May 9th, 1950 — the proposal written by French foreign minister Robert Schuman which led to the EU's launch in March 1957.
Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Betty Williams first hit the headlines when they led a popular backlash against violence following the death of three children in Belfast in August 1976.
The youngsters — the children of Mairead Corrigan's sister Anne Maguire — were hit by a car driven by IRA fugitive Danny Lennon, who had been fatally wounded while fleeing from British soldiers. The children were walking home with their mother.
Betty Williams heard the shots and rushed to help the children. Within days the two women had led thousands in protest marches demanding, peace, and became legendary as the leaders of the Peace People Movement.
Anne Maguire never got over the loss of her children and committed suicide in 1980. In 1981 Mairead Corrigan married Jack Maguire, Anne's widower.
John Hume headed the SDLP and pursued links with political rivals to foster peace long before the Belfast Agreement. His talks with Unionist leaders resulted in the 1993 Joint Declaration by Britain and Ireland, and the 1994 cease-fire agreement between the IRA and Unionist paramilitaries.
His peace efforts and those of Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble were recognised when the two were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998.