Alec Reid

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Father Alec Reid is an Irish priest who is noted for his facilitator role in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Born in County Tipperary, Reid was professed as a Redemptorist in 1950, and ordained a priest seven years later. For the next four years, he gave Parish Missions in Limerick, Dundalk and Galway (Esker), before moving to Clonard Monastery in Belfast, where he would spend almost the next forty years. The Redemptorist Monastery at Clonard stands on the interface between the Nationalist Catholic Community and the Protestant Shankill Road [Father Alec Reid C.Ss.R.] by Brother Brendan Mulhall, Redemptorists Denver, 17 May 2006 .

In 1988 he delivered the last rites to two Royal Signals corporals murdered by the IRA, the 'Corporals killings', after they accidentally drove into a Republican funeral. A photograph of his involvement in that incident became one of the enduring images of the Troubles.

In the late 1980's, Reid facilitated a series of meetings between Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and SDLP leader John Hume, in an effort to establish a 'Pan-Nationalist front' to enable a move toward renouncing violence in favour of negotiation. Reid then acted as their contact person with the Irish Government in Dublin from a 1987 meeting with Charles Haughey up to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In this role, which was not public knowledge at the time, he held meetings with various Taoiseach, and particularly with Martin Mansergh advisor to various Fianna Fáil leaders.

More recently, Reid has moved to Dublin and has been involved in peace efforts in the Basque region of Spain. In January 2003, he was awarded the Sabino Arana 2002 “World Mirror” prize, by the Sabino Arana Foundation in Bilbao, in recognition of his efforts at promoting peace and reconciliation.

Reid along with a Methodist minister, the Rev. Harold Good announced that the IRA had decommissioned their arms at a news conference in September 2005 [Maintaining belief in peace aided N. Ireland transformation] By Kevin Cullen, The Boston Globe, 27 September, 2005..

Reid was involved in controversy in November 2005 after comments he made during a meeting in Fitzroy Presbyterian Church concerning the Unionist community in Northern Ireland. Fr Reid said: "You don‘t want to hear the truth. The reality is that the nationalist community in Northern Ireland were treated almost like animals by the unionist community. They were not treated like human beings. They were treated like the Nazis treated the Jews" [Irish priest provokes fury with unionist 'Nazi' jibe] Breaking News.ie, 13 October, 2005..

In an interview with CNN, Reid claimed that "The IRA were, if you like, a violent response to the suppression of human rights" [ETA Announces Ceasefire] CNN Transcript, 22 March, 2006..

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