FORMER US senator George Mitchell was yesterday presented with an award by the Belfast Institute of Business Consulting (IBC) and the Dublin Institute of Management Consultants and Advisors, for his contribution to political progress and economic co-operation in Ireland.
The chairman of the IBC, Michael Clarke, thanked Mr Mitchell in Belfast yesterday for his skill and patience in chairing the talks that led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998.
He said Mr Mitchell’s personal intervention with the political parties in Northern Ireland had been “crucial” to the success of the talks.
Mr Mitchell was first sent to Northern Ireland in 1995 as a US special envoy. He chaired the all-party peace negotiations until the signing of the agreement 10 years ago. He is chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast and chairman of international law firm DLA Piper.