I have always been inspired by the American peace movement because it is operating in a very hard and militarist environment.

Everyday there are people in our world that do absolutely amazing things. People of all ages are very capable of doing tremendous, courageous things in spite of their fear.

That will be my focus: building a culture that moves away from militarism.

As a person committed to human rights and international law and the right of self-determination, I would like to see the occupation end. And then it is up to the Palestinians themselves to decide what they want.

I was born into a Catholic family. I grew up in West Belfast. Faith was very important to us eight children and my mother and father. It was grounded in the Christian tradition of social involvement.

Setting aside human rights and international law to have an agenda of war and killing and occupation to me is totally unacceptable.

The experience of a lot of us women is that too much money is being spent on militarism and war. We need human security: food, education, health care for our children. We don't want to waste it on wars and militarism. That will be our focus: building a culture that moves away from militarism.