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IRA arms inspector wins Nobel Peace Prize
Thursday, 11 December 2008
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One of the men who oversaw IRA arms decommissioning has received the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for mediating in some of the world’s thorniest conflicts.
Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari accepted the award from the Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes at a ceremony in Oslo.
71-year old Mr Ahtisaari won the award for his three decades of peace work around the globe including in Namibia, Kosovo and Indonesia.
He was a member of the decommissioning body that negotiated the destruction of IRA arms, but he rarely spoke in public about the process.
He served as Finland’s president from 1994 until declining re-election in 2000, when he left politics and founded his Crisis Management Initiative, a peace mediation institute.
The Nobel Prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, economics and literature are due to be presented in Stockholm, Sweden, today.
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When is Gerry Adams going to get the Nobel peace prize for his help in bringing peace.
Posted by peoples nchobo | 14.12.08, 10:14 GMT
A well deserved Nobel Peace Prize for Mr. Ahtisaari for a very long-awaited and delicate process to achieve what one hopes will lead fractious Northern Ireland into mainstream Europe.
Posted by Jim Guinnessey | 11.12.08, 20:26 GMT
"destruction of IRA arms"???
Are these the weapons that have been used in other Real IRA incidents in the time since they were 'put beyond use'?
Posted by Ken | 11.12.08, 10:56 GMT