Jo Berry

Background

After her father died, she committed her life to peaceful resolution and mediation of conflict.

Career

Sir Anthony Berry who was killed by the Ireland Republican Army in the Brighton hotel bombing on 12 October 1984. Berry lives in Somerset. After the release of Patrick Magee in 1999 she went on to meet him several times.

These meetings over ten months formed the basis of a British Broadcasting Corporation documentary first broadcast on 13 December 2001.

In July 2003 Berry spoke at the Street Ethelberga"s center for reconciliation and peace, itself rebuilt after being destroyed by the Ireland Republican Army in the 1993 Bishopsgate bombing. Jo is asked to speak and facilitate workshops around the world in peace building and reconciliation.

Their unique reconciliation work has recently been featured in the award winning film, Beyond Right and Wrong.

Achievements

• The bomb was planted by Patrick Magee whom Berry publicly met in November 2000, in an effort at achieving reconciliation as envisioned in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement.

Membership

On Monday 21 March 2011 Berry spoke at the Peace One Day conference in London and on Wednesday 12 May 2011 she spoke on a panel with Pat Magee, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, who lost over 50 members of her family in the Rwandan genocide.