Ciaran McKeown (1943 – 1 September 2019) was a

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pea ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Early life and education

Born in Derry to a

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family, the son of a schoolmaster Richard Deutsch, ''Mairead Corrigan, Betty Williams'', pp.69–70 McKeown served as a Dominican

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

for eight months in his youth.Judith Stiehm, ''Champions for peace: women winners of the Nobel Peace Prize'', p.70 He attended Queen's University Belfast, where he studied philosophy,Susan Muaddi Darraj, ''Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams: partners for peace in Northern Ireland'', pp.16–17 becoming the first Catholic to be elected president of the university's student council. He was also elected chair of the National Democrats, a ginger group linked with the National Democratic Party. He became president of the

Union of Students in Ireland The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) ( ga, Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn) is the national representative body for Tertiary education, third-level students' unions in Ireland. Founded in 1959, USI represents more than 374,000 students in over ...

in 1969, based in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, and stood in Dublin South-West at the

1969 Irish general election The 1969 Irish general election to the 19th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 18 June, following the dissolution of the 18th Dáil on 22 May by President Éamon de Valera on the request of Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The general election took place in 4 ...

, taking last place, with only 154 votes.

Journalist

In 1970, McKeown became a reporter for ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', then later worked for ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'', as their Belfast correspondent. Given his experience of reporting on the emergence of

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

, he supported the 1976 creation of "Women for Peace", a Northern Ireland-based movement, by

Betty Williams Elizabeth Williams ( Smyth; 22 May 1943 – 17 March 2020) was a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She was a co-recipient with Mairead Corrigan of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, a ...

and

Mairead Corrigan Mairead MaguireFairmichael, p. 28: "Mairead Corrigan, now Mairead Maguire, married her former brother-in-law, Jackie Maguire, and they have two children of their own as well as three by Jackie's previous marriage to Ann Maguire." (born 27 Januar ...

. When his involvement became more widely known, the movement changed its name to "Community of Peace People," or simply "Peace People". After the events of 1976-7 he found it difficult to return to full-time journalism.

Peace Activist

Although McKeown became known as a thoughtful and calm presence in the leadership of the organisation, his criticisms of the reluctance of church authorities to speak out on sectarian issues caused some tensions. Corrigan and Williams won the 1976

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

, but McKeown was not made a party to it. However, the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

made a grant to the group, which included a salary for McKeown, enabling him to become full-time editor of ''Peace by Peace'', the group's newspaper,Judith Stiehm, ''Champions for peace: women winners of the Nobel Peace Prize'', p.78 also completing a year as editor of ''

Fortnight Magazine ''Fortnight'' was a monthly political and cultural magazine published in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

'', in 1977. McKeown, Corrigan and Williams all stepped down from the leadership posts in 1978, although McKeown continued to edit ''Peace by Peace''. His articles brought him into conflict with the group's new leadership, while financial disagreements massively reduced the group's membership. Ultimately, his belief that the group should call for special status for paramilitary prisoners led to a split, with Williams and her leading supporter, Peter McLachlan, resigning in February 1980. McKeown could no longer survive on the group's salary, nor could he find work as a journalist, so he retrained as a

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or '' glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random ...

. In 1984, he published his autobiography, ''The Passion of Peace''; this was almost immediately withdrawn following a claim that it libelled a journalist, although it was later reissued with an additional note.''Books Ireland'', Issues 138–155, p.151

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mckeown, Ciaran 1943 births 2019 deaths Alumni of Queen's University Belfast National Democratic Party (Northern Ireland) politicians Nonviolence advocates The Irish Press people The Irish Times people People of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Politicians from Derry (city)