10000 DAYS
TURNING TIME INTO HOPE
I’m Don Mullan. I’m 69 years old, and for more than fifty years I’ve tried to stand where truth and justice are needed most — sometimes alongside Nobel laureates and world leaders, more often shoulder-to-shoulder with ordinary people who refused to be silenced.
Now everything comes down to a single number: 10,000.
If I’m fortunate, that’s how many days I have left. Around twenty-five years. Not guaranteed, of course — but enough to focus the mind.
Some people my age see this stage of life as a time to step back, to take things easy. For me, it’s the opposite. When you know your days are numbered, clarity comes. You stop wasting time. Every day becomes a chance — to plant something new, to resist injustice, to pass on what you’ve learned, to make the future just a little more hopeful than the past.
I want my last 10,000 days to matter. And I believe yours can too.
I was 15 years old when I witnessed Bloody Sunday in Derry — an event that would define the rest of my life. My reskponse was to write, campaign, and act. My book Eyewitness Bloody Sunday helped reopen the case, ultimately leading to justice and a historic apology from the British Prime Minister.
Since then, I have:
Produced award-winning documentaries and written bestselling books.
Campaigned for human rights and environmental justice across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Partnered with figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pelé, Gordon Banks, and countless grassroots leaders.
Developed and executed large-scale initiatives that combine culture, memory, and activism to create lasting social change.
Now, in these final 10,000 days, I aim to concentrate everything I have learned into a single, coherent mission.
ABOUT DON
10,000 days is finite — a reminder that time is never guaranteed. It calls for clarity, focus, and purpose.
THE VISION
My hope is to dedicate each remaining day to work that matters:protecting the environment, advancing justice, fostering peace, and celebrating the culture that binds us together.
These are not abstract ideals — they are the projects, partnerships, and communities I have spent a lifetime building, and the work I want to see continue long after I am gone.
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ENVIROMENTAL JUSTICE
Across the world — from Africa to Asia, the Americas to Europe - I have been involved in efforts to restore ecosystems, support biodiversity, and raise awareness through environmental diplomacy and documentary filmmaking including through Africa’s epic Great Green Wall. Looking ahead, new projects will also focus on the icecaps of the Arctic and Antarctica. Every tree planted, every habitat protected, and every story told is a step toward safeguarding life for generations to come
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RACIAL JUSTICE
From the legacy of Frederick Douglass to the generosity of the Choctaw people, and from friendships forged in the struggles of African Americans and South Africans, I have seen how deeply the fight for equality and dignity runs. This work is not finished. Each new generation must take up the challenge to build a world where no one is undervalued or excluded.
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PEACE & RECONCILIATION
I grew up in a divided Ireland. At 15, I saw Bloody Sunday with my own eyes. I know the damage pain and suffering leaves behind — and I know the fragile miracle of peace when it comes. Dialogue. Forgiveness. Courage. These aren’t luxuries. They are survival skills every divided society must learn.
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SPORTING HERITAGE & CULTURE
As a boy, football saved me. Gordon Banks, Pelé — they gave me hope when I had none. I’ve never forgotten that. Sport has the power to lift children, to unite communities, to heal wounds that politics cannot. It remains one of the most powerful forces for good we have.
LIVING LEGACY PROJECTS
ATLANTIC SLAVE MEMORIAL
The Atlantic Slave Memorial is a living tribute to the 12.5 million African men, women, and children who were stolen from their homelands and forced across the ocean in chains. It is not simply a monument to loss, but a commitment to remembrance that breathes life — a memorial built in trees, landscapes, and restored ecosystems rather than stone.
Led in The Gambia by environmental activist Kemo Fatty, the project takes root at one of the departure points of the transatlantic slave trade. Here, where countless lives were torn from their families and communities, we will plant living symbols of resilience: mangroves to restore coastlines, trees to heal degraded land, and green sanctuaries where people can gather, reflect, and learn.
The memorial is both local and global: a place for descendants of the enslaved to connect with their history, for Gambians to honour their role in truth-telling and reconciliation, and for the world to confront the enduring legacy of slavery.
The Atlantic Slave Memorial insists that remembrance cannot be passive. To honour the stolen, we must create renewal. To recognise suffering, we must generate hope. By rooting memory in living ecosystems, this project bridges the pain of the past with the urgent work of healing our future.
THE UN PEACE FOREST
In 2019, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification launched the Peace Forest Initiative – a global programme to restore land damaged by conflict and degradation, and to transform places of division into landscapes of peace.
As part of my 10,000 Days Project, I am helping to develop Ireland’s contribution: The People’s Peace Forest. It grows from the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, showing how a society that once knew deep division can offer something powerful to the world – a living example of reconciliation, rooted in the soil itself.
Over the next 25 years, we will create a cross-border network of forests, woodlands, and green corridors. We will begin in towns and cities, guided by a Tree Equity Map for the whole island, planting first where communities are most deprived of nature. From there, we will expand into rural and farming landscapes, building a fabric of renewal across the island.
What matters most is that this will be people-led. Communities, schools, and civic groups will be at its heart, with governments and institutions standing alongside. Planting together, we will also be strengthening trust and reconciliation – showing that peacebuilding and climate action belong together.
In October 2025, we will mark the launch with two milestones: the unveiling of a terrestrial globe in Derry–Londonderry, affirming its place as an International City of Peace, and a commemoration in Monaghan celebrating 50 years of Project Children. Both events will anchor this vision in the lived story of reconciliation.
The People’s Peace Forest is part of the UNCCD Peace Forest Initiative – and part of my 10,000 Days legacy. A reminder that peace is not only a political achievement, but a living, breathing landscape we must nurture for generations to come.
MAMA - MAKE AFRICA MOTHER AGAIN
MAMA – Make Africa Mother Again is a global movement and cultural brand dedicated to reawakening the soul, dignity, and destiny of Africa—and, through her, all humanity. Africa is not a broken continent in need of rescue; she is the original cradle of life, wisdom, and humanity. Led by Mpho Tutu van Furth and her daughter Nyaniso van Furth, MAMA honours Africa’s enduring strength and invites the world to recognise her as a source of moral clarity, renewal, and shared identity.
Rooted in African heritage but universal in its reach, MAMA seeks to restore pride, dignity, and creative agency while fostering a global reckoning with histories of exploitation and erasure. The movement champions women’s leadership, intergenerational healing, and the unification of Africa with her diasporic descendants, encouraging all to engage not as saviours but as students, allies, and participants in the continent’s resurgence.
Launching in 2026, MAMA will centre around storytelling campaigns, cultural pilgrimages, Mother Circles, and leadership programmes for young African visionaries. Its visual identity will blend sacred African symbolism with contemporary elegance, radiating power, grace, and truth. Early funding will support brand development, a signature short film, core infrastructure, and a ceremonial global launch—offering funders a historic opportunity to participate in the restoration of Africa and, through her, the renewal of the world.
THE MUHAMMED ALI LEGACY PROJECT
In 2010, sculptor Andrew Edwards created a bronze monument inspired by Neil Leifer’s iconic photograph of Ali standing over Sonny Liston. Originally exhibited in Doha, it has remained unseen in storage until its rediscovery by Irish author and activist Don Mullan.
Now, as part of the 10,000 Days Hope Initiative, the monument will be permanently installed in Ennis, Co. Clare – birthplace of Ali’s great-grandfather, Abe Grady. Ali’s 2009 visit to Ennis forged a lasting bond between the town and its global diaspora.
The project will:
Anchor Ennis as a cultural destination, projecting a €3–5 million annual tourism boost.
Celebrate Ali as an icon of sport, peace, and justice with profound Irish roots.
Serve as the foundation for broader initiatives – including a visitor centre, diaspora exchanges, and a potential twinning with Louisville, Kentucky.
The Muhammad Ali Legacy Project aligns with Ennis 2040 by blending heritage, sport, and global connection into a living tribute that unites Ireland and the world.
THAT SAVE - A GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN’S HEALTH
In 1970, England goalkeeper Gordon Banks made what is still called the greatest save in footbl history — stopping Pelé’s unstoppable header. More than half a century later, that moment inspires a global campaign I am developing as part of my 10,000 Days Project. 1970, England gaoThat Save will enlist the world’s greatest goalkeepers, women and men alike, to stand as guardians of children’s health. With the support of Wendy Banks, Gordon’s eldest daughter, and Flavia Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé’s daughter, this campaign will channel legacy into action.
Funds raised will support three symbolic hospitals: Hospital Pequeno Príncipe in Brazil, Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, and the New National Children’s Hospital in Dublin. Together, they reflect the campaign’s spirit — uniting North and South, sport and humanity, legacy and healing.
This is not just about football. It is about defending hope, saving lives, and proving that even the greatest save can still be made — for children everywhere.
TESTIMONIALS
‘Don’s CV speaks for itself. He is an experienced justice campaigner who effectively helped us during the darkest days of South African apartheid…’
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
‘Don’s commitment to fundamental human rights… gives us all renewed faith in humanity and its capacity for good.’
- Mary McAleese, Former President of Ireland
‘Like millions of boys around the globe, Don Mullan’s ambition was to become a professional footballer like Gordon Banks and, one day, play for his country. And, like millions of such boys, that never happened for various reasons. But the friendships he made and the discipline he learned from the game ultimately helped to form Don’s character and make him a better person. And that is the greatest result sport can hope to achieve.’
-Pele, 3 times World Cup Winner
