Martin O'Brien

Occupation: Community Mediator
Reebok HR Award: 1992
Birthplace: Northern Ireland

Gunshots echoed in the streets. People ran frantically seeking refuge from rocks, bottles, and bullets. Men with masks covering their faces lay in the street bleeding. Unfortunately, this scene was all too familiar for people in Northern Ireland, where decades of entrenched conflict still exploded without warning-destroying lives, futures, and hope. Entire generations had grown up witnessing terror and violence firsthand, and learning lessons of despair and partisan hatred that seemed to have neither beginning nor end. 

At age twelve, a young man from Belfast named Martin O'Brien struggled to overcome this legacy and co-founded Youth for Peace, an organization dedicated to promoting peace and understanding. As he grew up, he became a human rights champion who promoted the rule of law and sought creative solutions to murderous violence.

After the partition of Ireland in 1920, decades of conflict ensued between the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland. The Protestants, who constitute approximately two-thirds of the population, wish to maintain the link with Great Britain, while most Catholics aspire to a united Irish Republic. This deep-seated division of political and religious interests has brought death and despair to generations of Irish families and has extended well beyond national boundaries.

At the age of twenty-one, Martin O'Brien joined with several other human rights activists to establish Kilcranny House, a rural education center committed to healing the divisions in Northern Ireland. He was instrumental in developing adult training in human rights as well as a youth program, the Peace People Farm project. He sought to carve out neutral environments in which both Catholics and Protestants could search for common ground away from the killing that surrounded them.

While still in his twenties, Martin became a founding member of the Irish Network for Nonviolent Action Training and the coordinator of the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ). Through his work in both groups, Martin sought to stop human rights abuses from all sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland. 

Under his leadership, CAJ became an internationally respected nonpartisan, nonviolent human rights group dealing with the concerns of every community in Northern Ireland. This committee reported killings, worked to establish a bill of rights for Northern Ireland, and disseminated information about human rights abuses and atrocities. Perhaps most significant was Martin's work in investigating allegations of torture of suspected terrorists by the Northern Irish police force.

Martin has also served on Amnesty International fact-finding delegations to such areas as the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Palestine. Today, Martin works for The Atlantic Philanthropies, an organization dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people around the world.

Books

1. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown — 'A great mystery novel full of intrigue and clever writing.'

2. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry — 'An amazing children's story which teaches us a lot about what's important in life.'

3. Night by Elie Wiesel — 'An amazing illustration of the triumph of hope in the face of the terrors of the Holocaust. A powerful call for people to do something in the face of injustice.'        

Songs

1. We Shall Overcome — 'A great protest song with a very hopeful and confident message.'

2. Days Like This by Van Morrison — ' This song is associated with the peace agreement in Northern Ireland.'

3. Everybody Hurts by REM — 'I think this is an amazing song and I'm particularly moved by it because Michael Stipe dedicated it to a friend who was killed in the conflict in Northern Ireland.'                

Musicians

1. Joan Baez — 'Because of her voice and the politics her songs advance.'

2. Michael Stipe — 'I like his voice and REM's music. He presented me with the Reebok Human Rights Award.'

3. Katie Melua — 'She has a sensational voice and is from Belfast.'        

Movies

1. Dead Man Walking — 'It provides a compelling indictment of the death penalty.'

2. Monty Python's Life of Brian — 'Because of its great humour.'

3. March of the Penguins — 'The story of the incredible journey taken each year by emperor penguins and the amazing effort which they put into survival.'           

Question: If you were to create a 'toolbox' of things you need to create positive change, what would go in your toolbox?

Martin's Answer: My toolbox would include a vision of what you want to do, a plan for how you are going to do it, people to help you, an analysis of those who are likely to oppose you, and strategies for influencing them or dealing with them.  Also, it would contain a belief in your own power to do something.

On December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  Created with input from many nations, this document still presents a vision of a world in which the rights of all human beings are honored.  It has become the foundation for advocates of human rights around the world. 

The human rights work Martin O'Brien has done on CONFLICT RESOLUTION relates most to Article 28 of the UDHR:

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ARTICLE 28: Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Learn more about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Northern Ireland

*Unless otherwise noted, all facts and figures come from the CAIN website (Conflict Archive on the Internet: Conflict and Politics in Northern Ireland — http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/index.html.

POPULATION:
1,685,267 (Census 29 April 2001)
Age: 54.6% of the population is under 35, 24.7% under 16 (2001 Census)

RELIGION:
Catholic 40.26% (all dates 2001)
Presbyterian 20.69%
Church of Ireland 15.3%
Methodist 3.51%
Other Christian 6.07%
Other Religions 0.33%
Source: Northern Ireland Census 2001 Key Statistics (2002), Table KS07a, accessed from CAIN website, Jan 5, 2007 http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/religion.htm

GEOGRAPHY:
Total area: 5, 426 sq. miles
Land: 5,126 sq. miles
Water: 300 sq. miles
Coastline: 232 miles
Climate is temperate and uniform, mild winters, cool summers, average rainfall 31-41 inches per year.

EDUCATION:
5% students attend integrated schools, 95% attend religiously segregated schools. The percentage of students in Northern Ireland continuing on to higher ed is the highest in the European Union (EU).

ECONOMY:
Unemployment: 8.2% in 1997 (lowest in 18 years).

Wages: personal income lower than rest of UK.

Manufacturing: output grew 17% between 1991-1997, faster than overall UK.

GDP in 1996 was 14,471 (Source: Irish Almanac and Yearbook of Facts, 1999, p.178. Northern Ireland Annual Abstract of Statistics, p.144; accessed from CAIN website, Jan 5, 2007 http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/economy.htm)

EMPLOYMENT:
Unemployment is falling, but Northern Ireland has more long-term unemployed than overall UK.

Higher numbers of unemployed Catholics than Protestants.  More than 40% of the unemployed are Catholic.

Between 1990 and 1996, Catholic share of workforce increased from 34.9% to 38.1%.

HEALTH:
Highest number of deaths from heart disease and respiratory disease in the UK.

Highest number of deaths from car accidents in the UK (10 in 100,000 in Northern Ireland, 6 in 100,000 in England).

Highest infant mortality rate in UK, although it is falling (22.7 per 1,000 live births in 1971, to 6.1 per 1,000 in 1994).

HOUSING:
27% of people live in public housing.

CRIME, LAW AND ORDER:
Highest ratio of civilians to police in all of UK (1 police per 140 civilians in Northern Ireland, compared to 1:434 in England).

Less overall crime than all of UK, except in areas of sexual assaults, fraud and forgery, and 'other offences.'

Burglaries account for 75% of all crime in Northern Ireland.

Drug offenses rising (tripled between 1990-1995) but still lower than UK in general. Juvenile crime rate rising.