Just in from OC Alex Best, with our thanks.

"On the 16th October 1997 Senator Mitchell was naturally overjoyed by the birth of his son Andrew; however faced the decision to stay at home with his wife and new son, or go back to Northern Ireland and continue to encourage the parties to reach agreement.

What helped make up his mind was the thought of those children born in Northern Ireland on the same day as his son; what hopes and aspirations their parents might have for them and shouldn’t they have the same opportunities in life, to grow up in a peaceful society?

He later found out there were 61 children born in Northern Ireland on that day. Of which I was one. He wrote about this decision in his book ‘Making Peace’.

I was one of three children he met when he returned in 2012 with his family to film a documentary to see what progress has been made since the Good Friday Agreement and what progress is still left to go.

In that documentary I was filmed with his son Andrew; showing him around Campbell College.
 

The photo attached was us meeting again while he was in Belfast to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement."