Mitchell to receive 1998 Liberty Medal
Weeks after the Good Friday Agreement, Philadelphia named its chairman, former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell, for its Fourth of July honour.
As printed in the Celtic Mirror, June 1998
Chairman of Irish peace talks recognized for contribution
PHILADELPHIA - George J. Mitchell, former U.S. Senate majority leader and chairman of the peace talks in Northern Ireland, has been named recipient of the 1998 Philadelphia Liberty Medal by its International Selection Commission. Mitchell will accept the medal and the $100,000 honorarium at Independence Hall in Philadelphia as a focus of the city's Fourth of July celebration. This will be the tenth anniversary presentation of the medal.
The Philadelphia Liberty Medal was established in 1988, the 200th anniversary year of the United States Constitution, to heighten recognition of the principles on which this nation was founded. It honors an individual or an organization from anywhere in the world that has demonstrated leadership and vision in the pursuit of liberty of conscience or freedom from oppression, ignorance, or deprivation. It is administered by Greater Philadelphia First, a regional business and civic leadership organization. Unisys Corp. is the chief underwriter of the 1998 Liberty Medal.
Professor Martin Meyerson, chairman of the selection commission and President Emeritus of the University of Pennsylvania, said, "After 30 years of bitter and bloody divisions, a courageous, nonviolent transformation in Northern Ireland seems imminent. Senator George Mitchell has been both a vital catalyst and a patient shepherd to the peace negotiations. His persistence and persuasion guided the negotiators and allowed this breakthrough agreement, with its redefinition of the self-determination of peoples, to emerge."
Mitchell, 64, was educated at Bowdoin College and the Georgetown University School of Law. He began his service in the United States Senate as a Senator from Maine in 1980 and was Senate majority leader from 1989 to 1995. For six consecutive years, he was voted "the most respected member" of the Senate. His most recent book, published in 1997, is "Not for America Alone: The Triumph of Democracy and the Fall of Communism."
Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell will present the 1998 Liberty Medal on Saturday, July 4, at 10 a.m. at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Said Rendell: "I salute the commission on its selection. George Mitchell has helped craft an agreement for Irish reconciliation that many thought impossible to achieve and has earned the gratitude of millions worldwide. He did so by a combination of determination, resoluteness, intelligence and charm. We look forward to welcoming Senator Mitchell to Philadelphia on the Fourth of July."
Lawrence A. Weinbach, chairman and CEO of Liberty Medal underwriter Unisys Corp., a global information technology solutions provider headquartered in Philadelphia, stated, "Unisys is proud to again support the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in its tenth anniversary presentation. The International Selection Commission, under the chairmanship of Martin Meyerson, has compiled a distinguished history for the medal, and one that is now recognized around the world."
After the medal
The ceremony went ahead as planned. Mitchell received the Liberty Medal at Independence Hall on 4 July 1998, ten weeks after the Good Friday Agreement was signed. More honours followed quickly. On 17 March 1999, St. Patrick's Day, President Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Two months later, on 5 May 1999, he became chancellor of Queen's University Belfast, a post he held until 29 March 2009.
Washington kept finding uses for him. A commission he chaired on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict produced the first Mitchell Report in 2001. On 13 December 2007 a second Mitchell Report, on steroid use in Major League Baseball, landed on the sports pages with a thud. In between he served as chairman of the Walt Disney Company, from 4 March 2004 until the end of 2006. President Obama then named him Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, a job he held from 22 January 2009 to 13 May 2011. The Northern Ireland file, by comparison, had ended in a signed agreement.
He was born in Waterville, Maine, on 20 August 1933, which makes him 93 as we write. He was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2020, and by April 2023 described himself as in remission.
The last part of the record is harder to write. Mitchell was named in court documents unsealed on 9 August 2019, in which Virginia Giuffre alleged she had been trafficked to him by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. He has always denied ever meeting her. In early 2026, after newly released Epstein files showed further correspondence between the two men, Queen's University Belfast announced on 2 February 2026 that it would sever institutional ties and remove his name from its Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. The university said no finding of wrongdoing had been made against him. The US-Ireland Alliance also moved to rename the scholarship that carried his name, and Mitchell stepped down as honorary chair of the institute. His spokesperson said he profoundly regrets his past association with Epstein.
The medal itself has moved on too. The National Constitution Center took over the Liberty Medal in 2006. Its 2025 honourees were the musical "Hamilton" and the historian Ron Chernow, and the 2026 medal went to Pope Leo XIV.
Questions readers ask
Who won the Liberty Medal in 1998?
The 1998 Liberty Medal went to George J. Mitchell, the former US Senate majority leader from Maine who chaired the Northern Ireland peace talks that produced the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998. Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell presented it at Independence Hall on 4 July 1998, the medal's tenth anniversary presentation, with a $100,000 honorarium.
What did George Mitchell do in Northern Ireland?
Mitchell chaired the multi-party negotiations in Belfast that ended in the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998, after roughly 22 months of talks. He later served as chancellor of Queen's University Belfast from 1999 to 2009 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 17 March 1999.
Who runs the Liberty Medal now?
Since 2006 the Liberty Medal has been organised, selected and presented by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. It was founded in 1989 by the Philadelphia Foundation, and its first recipient, Lech Walesa, received $100,000. Recent recipients include the musical Hamilton and historian Ron Chernow in 2025 and Pope Leo XIV in 2026.
Why did Queen's University Belfast drop George Mitchell's name?
On 2 February 2026, after newly released Epstein documents showed further correspondence between Jeffrey Epstein and Mitchell, Queen's University Belfast said it would cut institutional ties and remove his name from its Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. The university stated that no finding of wrongdoing had been made against him. Mitchell denies Virginia Giuffre's allegations.
What was the Mitchell Report on baseball?
The Mitchell Report was George Mitchell's investigation into the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, released on 13 December 2007. It is separate from the 2001 Mitchell Report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which came from a fact-finding commission he chaired commissioned under President Clinton in 2000.
