Don Mullan, D/O’C Founder and Project Director, Ireland/U.S.A.
Don Mullan was born in 1956 in Derry (Londonderry), Northern Ireland. His involvement with the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement led him to work on Civil and Human Rights Campaigns worldwide. Aged 15 Mullan was a schoolboy witness to the Bloody Sunday massacre on 30 January 1972, during which British Paratroopers shot dead 13 unarmed civilians and wounded 14 others. A Public Inquiry set up by the British Government under the Lord Chief Justice of Englandand Wales, Lord Widgery, was considered a whitewash and contributed significantly to an undermining of confidence in the British Justice process in Northern Ireland. Mullan was one of some 500 citizens who gave eyewitness statement to the National Council of Civil Liberties in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday to assist Lord Widgery which were ignored. Twenty-five years later those statements were to form the basis of Mullan’s politically influential bestselling book Eyewitness Bloody Sunday – The Truth (Wolfhound Press 1997) that is officially credited as a primary catalyst for British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decision to establish a new Bloody Sunday Inquiry under the British Law Lord, Mark Saville. The Saville Inquiry became the longest running and most expensive Inquiry in British Legal History and culminated with an official apology by Prime Minister David Cameron on 15 June 2010 before the British Parliament in which he described the actions of the British Army on Bloody Sunday as ‘unjustified and unjustifiable’. All of the dead and wounded were exonerated.
Eyewitness Bloody Sunday – The Truth inspired the movie ‘Bloody Sunday’, directed by Paul Greengrass. Mullan was co-producer, source writer and actor in the film. The movie won the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival, amongst several international awards. ‘Bloody Sunday’ is one of a trilogy of award-winning movies that Mullan co-produced and associate-produced dealing with the beginning, end and aftermath of theNorthern Ireland conflict: ‘Bloody Sunday’ (2002); ‘Omagh’ (2004) and ‘Five Minutes of Heaven’ (2009).
Mullan is the author/editor of several books including the bestselling ‘The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings’ (Wolfhound Press 1999), investigating the biggest unsolved political mass murder case in the history of the Republic of Ireland; and ‘Speaking Truth to Power – The Donal de Roiste Affair’ (Currach Press 2005), exploring the mysterious ‘retirement’ of a young officer from the Irish Defence Forces in 1969.
In 2011, to commemorate the visit to Ireland of President Barack Obama, he edited and introduced ‘The Narrative of Frederick Douglass – An American Slave’ (a little book company), first published inIrelandin 1845. Mullan has also worked with the celebratedUKartist, Andrew Edwards, in creating a monument depicting Frederick Douglass inIreland. He is also the co-founder, with Kristin Leary, of the Frederick Douglass/Daniel O’Connell Memorial Project.
Mullan became director of AFrI (Action From Ireland), an Irish Justice, Peace and Human Rights NGO in 1979, aged 24, a position he held for 14 years. In 1994 Mullan moved to Concern Worldwide, Ireland’s highly respected international humanitarian organisation, to help the organisation commemorate the 150th anniversary ofIreland’s Great ‘Famine’ (1845-1849).
Mullan worked in Olinda/Recife, north-eastBrazilduring 1983-84, during which he organised relief into the ‘Seca Region’ ofCeará,Brazil, duringBrazil’s ‘hidden famine’ of the 1980s.
Mullan became friends with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1982, a friendship that remains in tact. In 1985 he was arrested atJanSmutsAirportand refused entry into Apartheid SouthAfricaand had his non-visa requirement, enjoyed by Irish citizens at the time, withdrawn by the Apartheid government because of his support for the anti-apartheid movement. He returned toSouth Africain 1994 as the guest of Archbishop Tutu to attend the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela. During that visit the Archbishop invited him to contribute to a symposium onRobbenIslandwhich was considering the future use of the notorious island when Madiba and hundreds ofSouth Africa’s black political leaders were incarcerated for decades. Mullan created the Desmond and Leah Tutu Peace Choir (UK) in 2009 and there are plans afoot for several other peace choirs in the future. He is also supporting efforts to create the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre inCape Town.
In 1994 Mullan was diagnosed as dyslexic after which he pursued a career as a writer/journalist. His boyhood memoir ‘The Boy Who Wanted to Fly’ (Legend Press, London, introduced by Pelé and Archbishop Tutu), tells the story of his struggle with reading and writing throughout his life, as well as the positive influence his sporting hero, Gordon Banks, the 1966 England World Cup winning goalkeeper, had on his youth.
Mullan has interviewed several international Human Rights icons during his career as a journalist. These include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sr. Helen Prejean, Mother Teresa ofCalcuttaand the mother of the US Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks.
Mullan has been published in The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, Ireland on Sunday, The Sunday Tribune, The Examiner, Magill Magazine, la Repubblica (Italy),The Times (London), The UK Independent, The Guardian, Journal do Brasil and Irish America magazine.
Mullan holds Bachelor Degrees from the Ulster Polytechnic, Belfastand IonaCollege, New Rochelle, New York. In 2002 he was the recipient of the International League for Human Rights ‘Defender of Human Dignity Award’, presented at the United Nations, New York. In 2003 he received the ‘Sean MacBride Humanitarian Award’ from the Ancient Order of Hibernians (USA) in recognition of his work for peace and Human Rights in Ireland. He has received Honorary Degrees from IonaCollege, New Rochelle, New York(1997) Mount Aloysius College, Cresson, Pennsylvania (2001) and DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois (2011). In 1990, Mullan was made an Honorary Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, an honor he shares with the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson. In March 1998 he was Grand Marshal of the San Diego St. Patrick’s Day Parade together with Gary White Deer of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Mullan is currently developing three major international projects:
The Frederick Douglass/Daniel O’Connell Memorial Project: inspired by the friendship between both men, with the aims of strengthening the friendship between Ireland and the USA; creating closer ties between the great Diasporas of Africa and Ireland in America for the betterment of humanity; and a Douglass/O’Connell Haiti Project, in recognition of Haiti seminal contribution to the ending of slavery worldwide.
The Christmas Truce Project – The Flanders Peace Field: inspired by the 1914 Christmas Truce of World War I, with two primary goals: (1) To create a Flanders Peace Field where young people from around the world, especially areas of conflict, will gather to play sport in the vicinity where, during the 1914 Christmas Truce, German and British soldiers played a game of football; and to reflect on the relevance of that game, and the lessons to be learned for our troubled world today; and (2) Create an International Christmas Truce Carol and Folk Festival in Flanders with satellite festivals around the world, at which that ‘moment of humanity’ is explored and commemorated through music, song and verse. Mullan was named by the Mayor of Mesen,Belgium, as the towns International Ambassador for the Christmas Truce Project in April 2011.
The Pelé Legacy Project – Goals for Life: Mullan is an avid sports fanatic. Through his friendship with his boyhood hero, Gordon Banks, he became friends with the great Brazilian soccer legend, Pelé. In 2009 Pelé named Don as the 1st European Ambassador of the Little Prince Hospital,Curitiba,Brazil, which has the noble aim of becoming one of the top 10 children’s hospitals in the world within this decade. Mullan was Executive Producer on a 45 second television advertisement for Brazilian television highlighting the Pelé Goals for Life Campaign which aims to harness the 1283 goals that Pelé scored during his momentous career and turn them into goals for assisting the welfare and healthcare of children inBrazil and throughout the world. To date Mullan has helped organise major dinners and events for Goals for Life inDublin,Qatar andFrance. He is also working with groups inEngland,Liechtenstein,Monaco and theUSA.
