Moving Forward Steps beyond Division

Abstract

It is a hazard of annual reports that events do not always fit neat timescales. At the very end of this reporting year, indeed on the 26th March, it was announced that, after months of effort, a new power-sharing government would be formed in Northern Ireland- on 8th May. Sometimes the sheer historic weight of events demands that the strict discipline of annual reports be set to one side, if only to acknowledge that something significant has taken place. While it is too early to judge the success or otherwise of the new government, there can be no doubt that a milestone has been reached, offering the hope that Ireland is embarked on a new era of peace characterised by trust rather than suspicion, justice rather than discrimination and peace rather than violence.