Remembering the past and inspiring the leaders of tomorrow

The people of Ireland will always owe a deep debt of gratitude to Senator George Mitchell.

As chair of the peace talks that produced the Good Friday Agreement 27 years ago this month, he deserves as much credit as anyone for the transformed society we inhabit today and the opportunity to build happy, prosperous lives free from threat of violence.

It was appropriate therefore that the still sprightly 91-year-old was back in Belfast to address young people about their responsibility to “sustain the peace” that his generation worked so hard to establish.

The former US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland made the comments during a speech on Wednesday at Queen’s University Belfast, which he served as Chancellor for 10 years.

More than 600 young people and politicians gathered in the Whitla Hall, where a youthful panel discussed how they could use their voice to shape change on issues that matter to them.

Senator Mitchell urged the next generation to resist the temptation to leave this island, saying the work of 1998 is constantly unfinished.

“I ask the people of Northern Ireland, especially the young people, to look forward, into the future, the deep and sometimes unfathomable future, and to enshrine the peace, making it last for their own children, and their children’s children, and beyond,” he said.

The fact that peace, in the words of the former US senator, now “seems normal” is testament to the long road travelled since the dark days of conflict.

A reminder of the job that remains, however, to ensure young people see a future here for themselves and the children they will raise, came in research highlighted in this paper this week.

Despite the achievements of Easter 1998, a survey of attitudes a quarter of a century after the Good Friday Agreement showed confidence in political parties and government to be strikingly low.

The World Values Survey mirrors other poll findings, no doubt reflecting frustration at the failure of our political institutions to deliver on a range of basic levels.

The assembly has been in a state of collapse for around 40 per cent of its existence. And during the periods when parties do grace Stormont with their presence, difficult decisions are all too often ducked or there is deadlock at the executive table.

The result is that schools are underfunded, poverty levels remains stubbornly high, and the health service has deteriorated almost to the point of collapse.

It may be that a new generation is needed to finish the work of 1998 and realise the potential that George Mitchell still sees during visits to these shores. It must be hoped that some will have listened to his words this week and been inspired to become the leaders of tomorrow.

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