I witnessed a lot of violence, and I found myself asking the question: Do you ever use violence to try to bring about political change?

There is no political will for peace in the Israeli government. They're not serious about political peace because they're still building settlements and demolishing Palestinian homes. That is a great tragedy.

The vast majority of people have never hurt anybody in their lives, don't want killing, don't want wars. In all the countries of the world, they just want to love their families and get on with their lives.

We mustn't start off with the idea that there's only militarism, invasions, and occupations. We really have to look: What are the alternatives here?

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.

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.

I witnessed a lot of violence, and I found myself asking the question: Do you ever use violence to try to bring about political change?