Monica McWilliams’ role in the Northern Ireland peace process

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 March 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Monica McWilliams played one of the most pivotal roles in the Northern Ireland peace process. She spent two years at the negotiating table which finally resulted in the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998. That made her a joint signatory to an international peace accord – something that very few women in the world manage to be. She speaks to Alys Harte about the representation of women in the historic retelling of Northern Ireland’s peace process and why women are so often written out of the history they make. (Picture: Monica McWilliams. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, Namulanta combo here, and I'm excited to tell you that my award-winning podcast,
0:06.4	Dear Daughter, is back for his second season, and it's available now.
0:11.5	Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:19.5	Hello, and thank you for downloading the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:24.9	With me, Ailes Hart.
0:26.7	This week we're bringing you stories inspired by International Women's Week.
0:31.0	Let me take you back to April 10th, 1998.
0:34.6	We're in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and it's just gone quarter past five.
0:40.5	US Senator George Mitchell is chairing his final meeting of peace talks, aimed at ending
0:45.8	decades of violent conflict between those who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of
0:50.0	the United Kingdom and those who wanted a United Ireland.
0:54.7	We knew that it was a historic moment because finally all the parties were at the table.
0:59.6	It was a real tense feeling that where are we going to actually get everyone to say yes.
1:07.0	That's Monica McWilliams.
1:08.7	She played a pivotal role in the peace process, but we'll come to that.
1:13.0	The Secretary of State, Moe Moldem, who had been getting treatment for a brain tumour
1:18.8	and had played a huge role that week.
1:21.6	She had ended her veneous trip.
1:23.2	She had discarded her wig, which was very uncomfortable as a result of the chemotherapy
1:27.7	she had lost her hair.
1:29.8	And she was running bare feet most of that week around the corridors, really putting every
1:34.7	ounce of her energy into getting the parties to move and move and move until finally we
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.