Jo Berry
Encyclopedia
Joanna Cynthia Berry was born in 1957 and is the daughter of Anthony Berry
Anthony Berry
Sir Anthony George Berry was a British politician, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate, and a Whip in Margaret Thatcher's government...

 and Hon. Mary Burke Roche an aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales and great-aunt of Prince William, the heir to the throne. Anthony Berry was killed by the IRA in the Brighton hotel bombing
Brighton hotel bombing
The Brighton hotel bombing happened on 12 October 1984 at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. The bomb was planted by Provisional Irish Republican Army member Patrick Magee, with the intention of assassinating Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet who were staying at the hotel for the...

 on 12 October 1984. The bomb was planted by Patrick Magee whom Jo publicly met in November 2000, in an effort at achieving reconciliation as envisioned in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement.

Jo lives in Cheshire.

Reconciliation

After her father died, she committed her life to peaceful resolution and mediation of conflict. After the release of Patrick Magee in 1999 she went on to meet him several times. These meetings over ten months formed the basis of a BBC documentary first broadcast on 13 December 2001.

In July 2003 Jo spoke at the Ethelberga's center for reconciliation and peace itself rebuilt after being destroyed by the IRA in the 1993 Bishopsgate bombing
1993 Bishopsgate bombing
The Bishopsgate bombing occurred on 24 April 1993, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb in London's financial district in Bishopsgate, City of London, England. One person was killed in the explosion and 44 injured, and damage initially estimated at £1 billion was caused...

.

Recent work

Jo founded the charity Building bridges for peace on the 18th October 2009.

On Monday 21 March 2011 Jo spoke at the Peace one day conference in London and on Wednesday 12 May 2011 she spoke on a panel with Pat Magee, Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...

and Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, who lost over 50 members of her family in the Rwandan genocide.

Jo is an established speaker in her own right, and has also appeared together with Pat Magee on over 90 occasions most recently at a peace conference on 8 September 2011.
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