PORTLAND (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell has been honored for helping bring peace to Northern Ireland.
Mitchell received the fifth annual Claddagh Award from the Maine Irish Heritage Center on Wednesday.
The award is given to a Maine native of Irish descent who has devoted his or her life to serving the community. The 79-year-old Mitchell grew up in Waterville, the son of an Irish father and a Lebanese mother.
President Bill Clinton appointed Mitchell, who had recently retired from the Senate, to be his special envoy to the peace negotiations in Northern Ireland in 1995. Mitchell is credited with guiding negotiators to achieve the historic Good Friday Accord on April 10, 1998.
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