The Tipperary International Peace Award for 2022 will be presented today. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, is to be honoured for her work supporting democracy in her native Belarus. Her husband, Sergei, a former presidential candidate and critic of the president was jailed for 18 years in 2021, and remains behind bars in Belarus. Ms Sviatlana lives in Exile as a court in Minsk has imposed a 15 year sentence on her in her absence.
The formal ceremony will take place in St Mary’s church and is an invitation only event. At 1.30pm Ms Tsikhnouskaya will lay a wreath at the Remembrance Arch on Station road and the public are welcome to attend this event. There will also be visits to St Ailbe’s school, a Civic Reception at the Council Office, Rosanna Road and a visit to the Circle of Friends Cancer Support Centre in Knockanrawley. The day-long programme will conclude with a visit to Christ the King, viewing point in the Glen of Aherlow.
During her visit to Ireland Ms Tsikhanouskaya will also meet with President Higgins, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Oireacthas members, the Foreign Affairs committee and the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Caroline Conroy.
Ms Tsikhanouskaya visited Tipperary as a child as part of the Chernobyl Children Aid Programme and returned to stay with her host family in Roscrea during her school holidays on several occasions.The Tipperary Peace Award is given to a group or person that has made a noteworthy contribution to the peacemaking process. The prestigious award’s past recipients include the late South African president, Nelson Mandela, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Pakistani girls’ rights activist Malala Yousafzai.
