I sincerely hope that we have seen the last of all the tragic loss of life caused by "the troubles".

I for one never want to see another headline recording the death or injury of another human being in the name of Freedom.

Its so nice to go to Armagh and cycle the roads and not be stopped by soldiers and policemen. Its so nice to call into a village in Co Down and have a plesant half hour conversation with an old farmer and not give a damn whether he is a Catholic or a Protestant, to sit in a pub and drink a pint and not have to worry about whether it is a loyalist pub or a republican pub. It is so nice to drive to and visit the graves of my C of I ancestors in Lurgan and not have to worry whether my "republican" car tyres will have air in them when I return to it.

I hope the progress made gives the lie to the words of Padraig Pearse as he spoke the oration over the grave of O'Donovan Rossa
"The fools, the fools, the fools, they have left us our Fenians dead annd while Ireland hold these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace"

Fergus