Both support and opposition voiced by political figures as Queen's University Belfast severs ties with George Mitchell over Epstein links
Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) is to remove the name of one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement from a peace centre because of his links with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein – a move that has drawn support and opposition.
It has been criticised by Eoghan Harris, former speechwriter to David Trimble, and ex-SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell.
UUP peer Lord Empey however said that Epstein was so “toxic” that anyone associated with him will rightly have their judgement questioned, adding that Queen’s had acted “swiftly and decisively”.
A bust of former US senator George Mitchell will also be removed from the university grounds.
The move comes a day after the US-Ireland Alliance said the George J Mitchell Scholarship Programme would no longer bear his name.
The developments follow the release of millions of files relating to Epstein, including further references to an earlier claim Mr Mitchell had sex with Epstein victim, Virginia Giuffre (something Mr Mitchell strongly denies).
Mr Mitchell chaired the peace talks that culminated in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
He was also QUB chancellor from 1999 to 2009.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
A Queen’s spokesperson said: “Queen’s 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.
“This decision follows the emergence of new information contained in the Epstein files released on Friday, which include references to senator Mitchell.
“While 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.”
But Mr Harris said QUB had rushed to judgment.
“Shame on Queen’s University and the US-Ireland Alliance (whoever they are) for appearing to join a rush to judge and even smear Senator George Mitchell,” he said.
“Sad to think that Mitchell gave such a big part of his life for peace only to get such bad treatment at this stage in his life, condemned by weasel words on the flimsiest of evidence by nationalist QUB and Irish Americans whom I think of as academic careerists.”
Also speaking out was ex-SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell, who wrote: “God bless George Mitchell, we all owe him so much.
"I know George, I watched him work close up.”
He added that “Queen’s used and abused him for their advantage and now try to discard him”.
On Sunday, the US-Ireland Alliance also said that the George J Mitchell Scholarship Programme would no longer bear his name.
The scholarship sends US students to the Republic and NI and was set up to honour Mr Mitchell for his work.
The latest release of documents relating to Epstein by the US government shows a continued relationship between Mitchell and Epstein, for some five years following Epstein's conviction.
This includes emails as well as memos with appointments scheduled between the pair.
Some five years after Epstein’s conviction, Mitchell emailed him (in November 2013) saying they were due to meet, as shown by the entry, “10:30am Appt w/Senator George Mitchell”, the BBC reported.
Epstein was arrested in New York in 2019 on sex trafficking charges.
He killed himself while awaiting trial.
A spokesperson for Mr Mitchell told the BBC yesterday: “Senator Mitchell profoundly regrets ever having known Jeffrey Epstein and condemns, without reservation, the horrific harm Epstein inflicted on so many women.”
They said Mr Mitchell did not at any time observe, suspect or have any knowledge of Epstein engaging in “illegal or inappropriate conduct with underage women”.
UUP peer Lord Empey said: “Reports that Senator Mitchell had an association with the disgraced financier and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein are profoundly disturbing.
"While the Senator denies any wrongdoing, he must know that such a relationship is deemed toxic by the public on both sides of the Atlantic.
"We must remember first and foremost that young women, many of them in their teens, were trafficked and abused by Epstein and many of his friends.
"It is their suffering that must be uppermost in our minds and not the damage to the reputations of politicians or businessmen.
"Like many of your readers, I have a daughter and granddaughters, and the whole Epstein saga has been ghastly and disgusting.
“He must know that until the full details of the degree of Epstein’s crimes and corruption are fully exposed (I believe more is to come) and understood, then the judgement of anybody associated with him, however tangentially, will rightly be called into question.
"That Queen’s University and the US-Ireland Alliance have acted so swiftly and decisively proves my point.”