CORRIGAN (Corrigan), Mairead

genus. January 27, 1944
Irish Supertestimone Mairead Corrigan was born in the Falls Road area of West Belfast (Northern Ireland). Of the seven children of Andrew and Margaret Corrigan was second, Catholic education was at home and in private schools in Belfast. As a father, stekloprotirschik by profession, he could not continue to pay tuition, K. left school at the age of l4 years and earning some money caring for children, enrolled in Business School. After working as an assistant accountant, she then became secretary to the director Ginesskogo brewery in Belfast, she was then 21 years old.
Joining the Legion of Mary, Catholic Charities, has led to. to social activities. Moved with his parents in the poorest parts of Belfast Andersostaun, K. participated in the organization of community club and a kindergarten.
In those years the situation in Northern Ireland has sharply deteriorated, the Catholic minority are increasingly hostile to the Protestant population. In 1968. group of Catholic students, established the Northern Ireland Association for Civil Rights in protest against discrimination in the management, labor and domestic. A year later, when the outbreak of violence between Catholics and Protestants have created a threat to public order, the Northern Ireland Government appealed to the British request to send troops to the Northern Irish county to preserve order. As the conflict became more violent forms, both sides have created a paramilitary organization. The militant wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on behalf of Catholics, and the Ulster Defense League (later the Ulster Defense Association) to protect the Protestant neighborhoods. In 1972, after another explosion of violence, the British government dissolved the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which is dominated by Protestants, and established a regime of direct rule from London.
Located in the hearth of the conflict, to. has seen bombings and other terrorist acts. She continued to work in the Legion of Mary, which urged young people in the Catholic Andersonstaune stop provocations against the British soldiers. In 1971, Mr.. British authorities have organized a concentration camp for convicted terrorists in Long Kesh. K. visited the prisoners, 'to remind them that they were Christians', as she explained later, and 'what not to violence called Christ'.
In the next year to. present at the meeting of the World Council of Churches in Bangkok (Thailand), her companion was a Protestant priest from the area Shenkill in Belfast. In 1973, Mr.. She traveled to the Soviet Union, where she participated in the work on a film about religion in a communist society.
In the chain of violence with which the Irish gradually become accustomed to, one event has a life to. turning. August 10, 1976, Mr.. British soldiers during the pursuit of IRA members shot dead behind the wheel of his car, which lost control, knocked her sister K., Ann Megir, her three children were with her, died. One witness the incident, Betty Williams, began collecting signatures for a petition Peace. Three days later, immediately after the funeral, TO. acted on television and, despite the risk, condemned the activities of the IRA. Williams, who also took part in the transfer, announced the text of the petition and announced the following day's peace march. 10 thousand. Protestant and Catholic women took to the streets, doing prayers and chanting religious hymns. Encouraged by this response, K. and William, together with journalists. Makkeonom decided to establish a community of peaceful people.
In 1976. Community hosted a series of demonstrations. In August, 35 thousand. protesters moved from the Falls Road in a Protestant area Shenkill, where they were warmly welcomed by residents. Demonstrations also took place in Dublin, Glasgow, London and other cities, in December at an international congress in Drogheda (Irish Republic) arrived delegation of Canada, Sweden, Norway, United States. On the bridge over the river of the world. Boyne demonstration took place, in this place the troops of the Protestant King William III defeated the army of Catholic King James II (the memory of the event still lives in the traditions of Northern Irish Protestants).
. The high spiritual quality to
. attracted more and more supporters of the Movement of innocent people. A small, green-friendly and the woman was a favorite of the press and listeners to any audience. In October 1976. with William, she traveled to the U.S. to persuade Americans of Irish descent do not support the IRA money.
Many supporters of K. and William were disappointed when they learned: the activities of both women unfolded too late to be marked by the Nobel Prize this year. The efforts of the activists have won such wide popularity that a number of initiative groups in Norway have collected 340 thousand. dollars and handed them to. and Williams as 'People's Peace Prize'.
Nevertheless, in the next year to. and Williams were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1976, which are not awarded due to lack of suitable candidates. Egil Orvik on behalf of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in his opening speech that the award marked 'fearless desire for peace and harmony'. Nobel lecture read Betty Williams. 'We are deeply and soul are committed to nonviolence, - she said. - For those who consider us naive, utopian socialists, we say: only we are realistic, while those who support militarism, pushing to total self-destruction of the human race '.
Cash received to. and Williams, allowed to proceed to the second phase of the peace movement of people, when they had identified the coexistence of religions through the cooperation of various sects. In 1977. K. and Williams, who initiated the 'Campaign demilitarization', referring to terrorist groups to lay down their arms. The following year, both activists and Makkeon left their posts in the Community of innocent people to try their hand at steering the work of able and others.
To. continued to give all the power the movement for peace and in subsequent years, in particular, it sought to unite the Protestant and Catholic youth in voluntary work camps. In 1981. K. married her brother-Jack Megira: her sister, Anne Megir, committed suicide some time after the events, claiming the lives of her three children. The family, which now grow two daughters and three sons, still lives in Belfast.