Joanna Cynthia Berry (born 1957) is a British peace activist and public speaker. She is the daughter of

Anthony Berry Sir Anthony George Berry (12 February 1925 – 12 October 1984) was a British Conservative politician. He served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield Southgate and a whip in Margaret Thatcher's government. Berry served as an MP for twent ...

, who was killed by the IRA in the

Brighton hotel bombing On 12 October 1984 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attempted to assassinate members of the British government, including the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. Five people were killed, in ...

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

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

. Berry lives in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. Through her mother, she is a first cousin of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

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 Berry spoke in London at St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, St Ethelburga’s church itself having been rebuilt after being destroyed by the IRA in the

1993 Bishopsgate bombing The Bishopsgate bombing occurred on 24 April 1993, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a powerful truck bomb on Bishopsgate, a major thoroughfare in London's financial district, the City of London. Telephoned warning ...

. Her reconciliation work was featured in the film ''Beyond Right and Wrong''.

Recent work

Berry founded the charity Building Bridges for Peace on the 18 October 2009. On Monday 21 March 2011, Berry spoke at the Peace One Day conference in London and on Wednesday 12 May 2011, she spoke on a panel with Patrick Magee, Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

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

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

. Berry is an established speaker, and has appeared together with Magee on over 300 occasions, most recently in Rwanda, Lebanon and Israel and Palestine as well as locally in Belfast. Berry was awarded a CBE for Services to Peace and Reconciliation in the 2025 King's Birthday honours list.King's Birthday Honours List 2025
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References

External links

Building Bridges for Peace
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Jo 1957 births Living people British anti-war activists People from Somerset British twins British women activists Jo Commanders of the Order of the British Empire