Joe Quinn - Chairman
As Chairman of Tipperary Peace Convention, it gives me great pleasure to welcome the many people from home and abroad who will visit our website. Tipperary Peace Convention has a proud tradition of promoting peace at a National and International level. Each year the Convention organises a Peace Conference in Tipperary Town, that includes the Presentation of the Tipperary International Peace Award an International Song of Peace Contest, a Peace Forum and a special Ecumenical Service. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to visit our historic town and to attend our Peace Conference.
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Calling all songwriters and composers.....
Entry Forms now available for the 2010 Tipperary International Song of Peace Contest
Download the entry form here
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ANNOUNCING THE "I CLICKED FOR PEACE" INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITIONA competition that invites you to photograph an image that you think captures peace in our world today.........Download the entry form here __________________________________________________________________________
PEACE HONOUR FOR KENNEDY SIBLINGS
The late Senator Edward Kennedy and his sister, Ambassador Jean
Kennedy Smith are the recipients of the 2009 Tipperary
International Peace Award.
In honouring the Kennedy siblings Tipperary Peace Convention
are recognizing their lifelong commitment to peace both in Northern
Ireland and on the greater World stage.
The late Senator Edward Kennedy, who passed away on August 25th, 2009 is being
honoured for his courageous
leadership for peace, human rights, and nuclear disarmament. A leading
figure in US and International politics for more than 40 years, Kennedy will be
remembered in Ireland
for his involvement in the peace process leading up to the Good Friday
Agreement. On the international stage Senator Kennedy was a steadfast leader
for nuclear disarmament and long supported the abolition of nuclear weapons. He
also emerged as one of the most
thoughtful and vocal opponents to U.S. involvement in several armed conflicts,
from Central
America to the Middle East and voted against authorising the Iraq war in 2002. A tireless advocate
for democracy and human rights he worked to end apartheid in South Africa and
opposed military dictatorships in Chile and Argentina. Credited with helping to
substantively shape U.S. Foreign Policy, Kennedy’s engagement in international
affairs continued throughout his service in the Senate.
Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith is being honoured for all she did to
enable future generations, regardless of their background, to share in Ireland’s
promising future. The last surviving child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy, Jean was
often in the background, supporting her brothers John, Robert and Edward, as
they rose to high political office. But in the 1990s, as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland,
she played a key role in bringing peace to Northern
Ireland. She earned the respect of officials
from North and South alike for her impressive diplomacy and was seen as being a
‘crucial catalyst’ at a moment in Irish history when peace hung in the balance.
The advice that she gave and the contacts that she maintained, especially in
times of difficulty, were of vital importance in achieving, what was, a very
historic breakthrough in the Northern Ireland Peace Process and for that she deserves
our everlasting admiration and respect. She served the United
States proudly and capably as U.S.
Ambassador to Ireland
and played a pivotal role in the peace process during her five year residence
in Ireland.
The Award will be presented in Tipperary,
Ireland in June 2010.
Previous recipients of the Award include Bob Geldof, Mikhail
Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Mona Juul & Terje Larsen, Adi Roche, Senator
George Mitchell, Bill Clinton, Archbishop Robin Eames, the late Benazir Bhutto
and the Cluster Munition Coalition.
The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) were awarded the 2008 Tipperary International Peace Award in
recognition of its successful five-year campaign to outlaw cluster
bombs. Pictured at the Award Presentation in Tipperary in May 2009 were (from left): Thomas Nash, co-ordinator of the Cluster Munitions Coalition; Joe Quinn, chairman of Tipperary Peace Convention; Martin Quinn, secretary; and Rina Roche, committee member; with Branislav Kapetanovic holding the award. Photograph: Emma Jervis/ Press 22
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Check out the Tipperary Song of Peace myspace site http://www.myspace.com/tipperarysongofpeace
Winning song from 2009 can be heard there along with some past winners.........