Northern Ireland Peacemaker to visit Sri Lanka this week

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 November 2006, 10:10 GMT]
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy will be visiting Sri Lanka between 14 and 16 November, accompanied by Christopher MacCabe, the British Joint Secretary of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat. Mr Murphy will meet a range of key participants in the Sri Lankan peace process and share his experiences of building peace in Northern Ireland, according to a press statement issued by the British High Commission in Colombo Monday . His visit follows a meeting in August where British Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed with President Mahinda Rajapakse ways in which the UK could support the Norwegian facilitated peace process.

Full text of the press release follows:

PRESS RELEASE: MONDAY 13 NOVEMBER 06
FORMER NORTHERN IRELAND MINISTER TO VISIT SRI LANKA

The Right Hon Paul Murphy MP will visit Sri Lanka between 14 and 16 November. Mr Murphy was the Cabinet Minister responsible for Northern Irish affairs between 2002 and 2005, and was closely involved in the Northern Ireland peace process. He previously served as Political Development Minister for Northern Ireland. He is currently the Chairman of the British Intelligence and Security Committee. He will be accompanied by Mr Christopher MacCabe, the British Joint Secretary of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat.

While in Sri Lanka Mr Murphy will meet a range of key participants in the Sri Lankan peace process and share his experiences of building peace in Northern Ireland. His visit follows a meeting in August where British Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed with President Mahinda Rajapakse ways in which the UK could support the Norwegian facilitated peace process.

Chronology: