From The Most Reverend Dr R.H.A. Eames
Archbishop of Armagh,
Primate of All Ireland and Metropolitan

• How far we have come in a relatively short time

and

• The inherent decency of the vast majority of people in both our main traditions.

Even a few years ago few would have imagined that the political structures we now have would have been possible. We have come a very long way despite the temptation to cling to or turn back into the old familiar but failed paths of the past. We face great problems to secure a lasting and just peace. The pain of change for many of our people has been almost unbearable. The price of peace has been immense. At times that price has demanded forbearance and courage of the highest order. Acceptance of those we disagree with calls for the questioning of attitudes which were a protection of what we believed essential to our own individual tradition. The cost of progress forced us all to think deeply about priorities. Those who carry with them into this new year painful memories of past hurt must never be forgotten. Memories are a crucial ingredient of our lives. But it is what we do with those memories which marks us out as individuals made in the image of God.

I have long believed in the inherent decency of the vast majority of Protestants and Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland. That decency, at times hidden behind events over which we have felt little control, has time and again brought us back from the brink. We deserve a future of peace and justice for all traditions. The best of those traditions is what we must hold on to in 2001. Clear minds and a determination to seek justice not just for our own tradition but for what is important to others must be the vision we take with us into this new year. It is surely also the basis for a future for all who call themselves Christians."