NOW that we have an agreed peace in the Middle East, a peace we desperately hope will last, I find myself thinking of the seasonal messages received and sent recently. Christmas cards wished us a happy or merry Christmas, often with joyful images intended to cheer us on: robins and reindeer, Santas and sleighs, glitter and gladness. Sometimes the sender added a message wishing the recipient peace, occasionally stating a desire for world peace.

Well, that’s a tall order. In our war-torn world, there’s not a lot of peace about. Security and calm, harmony and freedom are elusive. Ideally, peace should include treating others with respect while sharing willingly. It certainly means freedom from violence and, maybe, compassion.

Over 25 years ago, the UK and Ireland signed the Good Friday Agreement, ending generations of bloodshed weirdly known as The Troubles. Thousands had been murdered, many thousands more maimed and countless others damaged for life. What’s sometimes called relative peace holds in NI and communities seem committed to maintaining it. Young people mix easily, socialising together, having apparently moved on.

The flags and the ‘peace wall’ are still there, though. Unsettling murals still exist; for some of us, the words ‘We haven’t gone away’ resonate with chilly authenticity. Brexit hasn’t helped, either.

The relative peace prevails because older people remember the bombs and bullets. They don’t want to return to that level of fear. For many, shoring up the peace is a daily endeavour, even if it means compromise. That kind of peace has to mean compromise but it has to mean resilience too, and Northern Ireland’s people have that in lorry-loads: their capacity to withstand or recover while continuing to face challenges is spectacular .

The agreed peace between Hamas and Israel is wonderful, after so much killing, so much sorrow and deprivation. More intense negotiation will follow, with more fierce conversations. Hamas is still committed to the eradication of Israel: Israel is still committed to the eradication of Hamas. If a permanent peace is to become a reality, fierce dialogue must incorporate compromise, however uncomfortable; both Palestinians and Israelis still need an enormous amount of resilience. The rest of us should respect the process, acknowledging with humility how small our voices are.– 

Councillor Kay Morrison