Maguire family on the way

Press, 1 June 1977, Page 6

Maguire family on the way

By

JOHN ROSS,

London

correspondent

The parents of the three children whose death resulted in the formation of the Peace Movement in Northern Ireland, Mr J. Maguire and his wife Anne, left London for Auckland on Monday. They were due to arrive early this morning. They are accompanied by their remaining son, Mark, aged 7, and by Mrs Patricia Corrigan. Mr Maguire is a motor mechanic and the family plans to settle in Auckland. He said before he left that he was pessimistic about the prospect for peace in Northern Ireland, although the people were increasingly aware of the futility of the violence. “What can happen to my family can happen to a lot of families,” he said. In Belfast yesterday, police sources said the

death rate from terrorist activities had dropped from 26 to 13 a month.

A spokesman attributed the decrease largely to information from the Peace Movement and the public.

formation from the Peace Movement and the public. The movement’s cofounder, Mairead Corrigan, said yesterday she hoped that the “escape route” to New Zealand could be opened within the next few weeks. Initially, about six young families from Northern Ireland will be permitted to settle in New Zealand as a gesture of goodwill by the New Zealand Government.

But, Miss Corrigan said, discussions with the New Zealand authorities were dragging along longer than she had hoped. She said she might try to see the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) who is due in London on Monday, in an attempt to get the scheme speeded up.