{"id":121083,"date":"2026-02-03T10:12:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T10:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121083\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T10:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T10:12:26","slug":"george-mitchell-bust-removed-from-queens-university-belfast-amid-epstein-links-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121083\/","title":{"rendered":"George Mitchell bust removed from Queen\u2019s University Belfast amid Epstein links \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bust of George Mitchell<\/a> on the grounds of Queen\u2019s University Belfast<\/a> has been removed overnight.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the university announced it was to remove the name of one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement from a peace centre, <\/a>because of his links with the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, along with the bust of the former US senator from university grounds.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood the bust remained in situ on Monday evening but had been removed by 8.30am on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Mr Mitchell chaired the negotiations which led to the 1998 peace agreement.<\/p>\n

\"Dissident<\/a>\"‘Always<\/a><\/p>\n

He has a long-standing association with the university where he was chancellor from 1999 to 2009.<\/p>\n

On Monday, a Queen\u2019s spokesperson said: \u201cQueen\u2019s University Belfast has taken the decision to remove the name of its former chancellor, Senator George J Mitchell, from the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, and to remove the bust commemorating him from the University campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision follows the emergence of new information contained in the Epstein files released on Friday, which include references to Senator Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile no findings of wrongdoing by senator Mitchell have been made, the university has concluded that, in light of this material, and mindful of the experiences of victims and survivors, it is no longer appropriate for its institutional spaces and entities to continue to bear his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a civic institution with a global reputation for leadership in peace, reconciliation, and justice, Queen\u2019s University Belfast must ensure that its honours and symbols reflect the highest standards consistent with its values and responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Mr Mitchell told the BBC on Monday: \u201cSenator Mitchell profoundly regrets ever having known Jeffrey Epstein and condemns, without reservation, the horrific harm Epstein inflicted on so many women.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said Mitchell did not at any time observe, suspect or have any knowledge of Epstein engaging in \u201cillegal or inappropriate conduct with underage women\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bust of George Mitchell on the grounds of Queen\u2019s University Belfast has been removed overnight. On Monday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[15970,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-121083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-queens","13":"tag-queens-headlines","14":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}