Nov 2, 2015 3 min read

With her soft Irish lilt and friendly, open face, Mary Montague is the picture of peace.

But Montague, who has been honored for her work throughout the world, never sought out the role of mediator.

She was a nurse and mother repeatedly exposed to tragedy in her parish during “The Troubles,” a name for the conflict in Northern Ireland. Although not considered a religious war, The Troubles involved the diminished relationship between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

“The war came to my doorstep,” said Montague. “When you are a nurse, it doesn’t matter what side you’re on. When someone is hurt or injured, blood is the same color as anyone else’s.”

Every house on Montague’s street suffered losses in the war, through death, imprisonment or internment – imprisonment without trial.

“There were two ways I could have gone: I could have joined an armed group or put my energy into reconciliation. I chose the second,” she said.

Through her talks with both sides, Montague helped reconcile her community. She later mediated crises throughout the world, including Kosovo, the Middle East, Asia and Northern Africa.

While most will never witness the mass devastation of those regions, Montague said discord in our own lives can – and should – be addressed.

She will speak about issues of conflict and the role of the community in resolution, first with Washington School District teachers and administrators, then in a public lecture, “Us and Them: The Nature of Peace and Conflict” at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Rossin Ballroom. On Wednesday, she will meet with community leaders and elected officials.

“I think Washington is seeing too much violence. I think we’ve lost too many good people,” said James Longo, professor and chair of the education department, who met Montague in Bucharest, Romania, while presenting at the Mediators Beyond Borders International Congress, where Montague was honored for her work. “(Montague) knows about trauma and violence on a traumatic level. She knows about loss. I think our community knows something about this, too.”

Longo worked to bring Montague to W&J and the community to share her knowledge of conflict resolution.

“I can’t come in to give an answer to conflict here, but I can give you tools that have worked and principals that help to build a sustainable solution,” Montague said.

Those principals are based on the name of her nonprofit organization, TIDES Training & Consultancy: transformation, interdependence, diversity, equity and stainability.

Montague said people need to work to “rehumanize” those of opposing opinion.

“It’s very, very easy to hurt one another if we see each other as less than human,” she said, adding that everyone in the community must participate for lasting peace. “If people can learn how to be together and have conversations in a difficult way, more difficult conversations can be had without destroying relationships.”

Ryan Bunting, a Washington Park Elementary teacher who met with Montague, said he is inspired by Montague’s message and will take what he learned into the classroom.

“Empowering people, including all people … that creates transformative change,” he said. “Sustainability is not taught in one year. It takes years of hard work.”

Montague’s residence is sponsored by the Benedum Foundation Master Teacher grant, J. Robert Maxwell 43 Visiting Scholar series, W&J’s conflict resolution studies concentration and education department.