Press Releases

2009 INTERNATIONAL REFLECTIONS OF HOPE AWARD TO HONOR IRISH PEACEMAKER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2009

Contact: Nancy Coggins, APR
405.235.3313 or 405.760.9053
nc@oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org

2009 INTERNATIONAL REFLECTIONS OF HOPE AWARD TO HONOR IRISH PEACEMAKER
Annual award given by Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum honors person providing hope in the midst of political violence

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum will honor Father Alex Reid for his work engaging groups to make lasting peace in Northern Ireland with the 2009 Reflections of Hope Award®, an annual award honoring a person or organization making a difference in the midst of political chaos.

Father Reid is being honored for his life’s work in the peace process in Northern Ireland. His work was long term and behind the scenes. He brought to the Irish conflict two very important recognitions: (1) in order to have the space to initiate a peace process, you have to stop the atrocities being committed by both sides and (2) success in any peace process requires inclusion of all parties who speak for recognized constituencies. Even today, as dissidents continue outbreaks of violence, Father Reid’s philosophies are being used to promote peace. His goal was to stop the killing in Northern Ireland so peace could start, and it was his early work that persuaded the Irish Republican Army to put down their arms.

Father Reid worked to bring all parties together first by opening communication between groups of Irish Catholics, then by bringing them to the table for discussions with the government of Ireland, and finally by helping bring all parties together to work toward peace with the British government.

Father Reid recently said his philosophy in solving a conflict is Don’t stand at a distance and shout at the. You must talk to them and engage them. You have to create space to make peace. In the wake of renewed killings, Northern Ireland’s people and its leaders are uniting against a return to the violence that

plagued them for years.

Father Reid never saw people as Catholic or Protestant. He never saw the conflict in Northern Ireland as religious. Rather, he saw the problem as political and all participants as equal human beings. Father Reid sorrowed over unequal or inhumane treatment of any person and the loss of life, no matter religion or ethnicity.

“I am honored to receive this award,” Father Reid said from Dublin, Ireland. “I look forward to being in Oklahoma City to accept this award and am delighted to have the opportunity to see the Memorial and Museum.”

Established in 2005 as part of the 10th anniversary commemoration of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Reflections of Hope Award honors a living person or currently active organization whose conduct exemplifies in an extraordinary fashion two core beliefs of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation: that hope can survive and blossom despite the tragedy and chaos of political violence and that, even in environments marred by such violence, peaceful, nonviolent approaches provide the best answers to human problems.

“This award evolved from the idea that the mission of the Memorial is not limited to Oklahoma City, or even the United States,” said Kari F. Watkins, Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum executive director. “Father Reid’s good works have made a significant difference against the backdrop of violence in Northern Ireland and in other areas where he has been able to bring conflicting groups together to communicate to work out differences, and he has changed lives through his commitment to bring parties together for the good of all.”

Father Reid will be honored at a reception and dinner on April 19, 2009, at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, Grand Ballroom, in downtown Oklahoma City. The dinner will include remarks from special guest Ann Curry, Emmy-award winning correspondent, Today Show News anchor and Dateline anchor for NBC News, speaking on the topic of Global Humanitarian Reporting.

The 2009 Reflections of Hope Award selection committee includes
• Judge Jerome Holmes, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Chair of Selection Committee, Memorial Trustee
• Kim Henry, First Lady, State of Oklahoma, Honorary Chair of Selection Committee
• Prudence Bushnell, United States Ambassador, Retired, Memorial Trustee
• Oscar Castañeda, Vice President of Americas Program, Heifer International
• Martha Crenshaw, PhD, Senior Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University
• Christy Everest, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Oklahoma Publishing Company
• Chris Howard, PhD, Vice President for Strategic and Leadership Initiatives, University of Oklahoma
• Cathy Keating, former First Lady of Oklahoma, Memorial Trustee
• Linda Lambert, Founding Chair, Selection Committee, LASSO Corporation
• Zach P. Messitte, PhD, Vice Provost for International Programs, University of Oklahoma
• George Moose, United States Ambassador, Retired
• Ron Norick, former Mayor of Oklahoma City, Managing Director of Norick Investments
• Bernie Patterson, PhD, Provost, Oklahoma City University
• Jane Vessels, Assistant Editor, National Geographic
• Kari Watkins, Executive Director, Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
• Susan Winchester, family member, Chair of Dinner Committee, Memorial Trustee
• Lee Woodruff, Author and Family/Life Contributor to Good Morning America

Tickets to the dinner are $168 per person, tables are available for $2500, and either can be reserved by calling Toni Clopton at 405.235.3313. The Reflections of Hope Award is made possible through the generous support of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum was created to honor “those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever” by the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The Memorial and Museum are dedicated to educating visitors about the impact of violence, informing about events surrounding the bombing, and inspiring hope and healing through lessons learned by those affected.

For more information on the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, call 888.542.HOPE or visit www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org.

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Digital audio and video files of Father Reid’s award acceptance will be available to the media Monday, April 20, 2009, after 9 a.m. CDT. Please contact Nancy Coggins at 405.235.3313 or nc@oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org if you would like access to these files.

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