On December 7, 1998, a special John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award was presented to eight political leaders of Northern Ireland and the American chairman of the peace talks in recognition of the extraordinary political courage they demonstrated in negotiating the historic Good Friday Peace Agreement in April, 1998. The presentation of the Profile in Courage Award to a non-American was unprecedented at the time.
The recipients of the Profile in Courage Award were Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume, Social Democratic and Labour Party; Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein; John Alderdice, Alliance Party of Northern Ireland; Malachi Curran, Northern Ireland Labour Party; David Ervine, Progressive Unionist Party; Gary McMichael, Ulster Democratic Party; Monica McWilliams, Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition; Nobel Peace Prize laureate David Trimble, Ulster Unionist Party; and former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, chairman of the peace talks.