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I have just finished reading a biography of the great Martin Luther King which is made up of his thoughts and most memorable speeches. The theme that runs through the book and appears to have been the guiding principle of his life and work was of non violence in all walks of life,even when protesting for something you passionatley believe in. Perhaps this book, and his philosophy should be required reading in schools, to try and build foundations of tolerance, and acceptance of differing points of view wether they be religious or social.

This is perhaps the most interesting entry I have read in Nick's blog so far.

Those families who lost their young children to terrorism and had the courage to confront their emotions in this way deserve mammoth ammounts of praise. I cannot begin to think what they feel.

I agree with Nick that we have come along way in a very short space of time. Maybe there's hope for the world after all.

When does this programme air?

'Politics and politics alone' says Nick.

I agree, providing we use the word in its widest sense, that is, the process by which individuals and groups make decisions.

Although generally this is taken to mean behaviour within Governments, I prefer to think that individuals who have been engaged, either directly or indirectly in violence towards other human beings, either as individuals or as part of a group, may eventually behave as civilised human beings, obeying basic human norms.

We all shine on, but some will shine much brighter than others.

I'm a strapping 6foot 20 something lad, and the first sentence of your blog regarding Colin Parry's speech has brought tears to my eyes. I think I would actually be weeping were I to read his entire speech.

I was in Ireland working shortly before the end of the hostilities, and I can honestly say I've never been more scared than I was in Belfast. It was totally surreal driving from one area of the city to another and seeing the kurbstones painted with the Irish colours in one, and the flags with the cross of St. George and the red hand of Ulster flying from every lamp.

I don't know whether Gerry Adams explained the rationale for the Warrington bomb. It could not have killed members of the RUC. It would have been coincidental if it had killed a member of the armed forces. It was intended therefore to kill and maim people who had no involvement in the Irish question.
It has to be remembered that Sinn Fein even now still represents only a quarter of the NI population and that its military wing felt justified in attempting to impose its will on the majority by terror.
Yet now one of its former commanders is now joint first Minister here and the moderate parties have all but been destroyed.

Thanks Nick. I hope this programme is repeated so that I can watch it. I cannot for the life of me begin to think what those people went through and am genuinely in awe of their courage.

I guess it's things like this that make you most proud of your work.

Nick

Thank you for this posting.

I cannot match others eloquence in praising the Parrys and so let me instead simply state my wholehearted agreement with that praise.

On a related note, isn't the ascendancy of politics over violence in NI Tony Blair's real legacy?

Admirable and poignant indeed.

As this is a political blog in the UK I think it appropiate to also remember the persistent bloody minded driven power of Tony Blair's determination to make progress over Northern Ireland.

Reading Colin Parry's words has given me a sick feeling in my stomach at the thought of something happening to my wee boy. That they have found the strength and bravery to do so much good after what was an evil act moves me to tears. Good on 'em.

Last night's meeting was indeed an emotional one, and it served as a poignant reminder that although we have clearly come a long way in the past few years, we still have a long way to go before we overcome this issue. Fo me sitting in the audience, knowing little about the Northern Irish conflict, this was a unique and incredibly memorable experience from which I learnt much about not only the importance of communication but also of understanding; ignorance really does breed intolerance.

In addition, I cannot help but feel that Gerry Adams' contribution to the evening had been somewhat looked over during the evening itself, and also in this blog. I am in no way downplaying the Parry's contribution to the meeting, but I feel compelled to point out that the evening was a huge step for Adams too, and that addressing such an audience on this topic was a very brave, and neccessary, thing to do.

I would therefore like to thank the two speakers, Gerry Adams and Colin Parry, as well as Nick for organising such an important, and in many ways groundbreaking, meeting.

What a remarkable event.

You should be proud, Nick that in a world dominated by the slick pedestrian news of the foibles of that politician or the antics of this celebrity you and colleagues at the Foundation for Peace can awaken hope for that peace through this kind of deep reconciliation. My heart goes out to Colin Parry - but my admiration for the man is immense because of his measured response to the terrible act that took his young son from him.

Thank you, Nick, for a post to your blog that lifted us all, for a moment, out of the mundane round of politics and reminded us what real human bravery and hope can be and can mean.

Hi Nick
Yesterday evening was indeed memorable for the strength and forward looking purpose of Colin and Wendy.
Gerry Adams showed strong character to attend. The blame is always however someone else's fault.
Colin's advice of conflict resolution is too face your enemy, learn and listen... a message for peace in the middle east...?

Nick,

Thanks ever so much for this post. Obviously a number of people found it very moving and I won't try to put my own feelings into words - except to say I have 5 kids, the youngest being an 11 year old boy.

Ian Hymers wrote (above)

Perhaps this book, and his philosophy should be required reading in schools, to try and build foundations of tolerance, and acceptance of differing points of view wether they be religious or social.

Referring, to a book by Martin Luther King.

My thought was that stories such as these should be told in our schools. I'm sure that they could be worked into the curriculum as it stands as part of secondary school English or Humanities for example. I checked out the site you pointed us at and found a "Teachers' resources under development " note. It wouldn't take a lot you know. I would be amazed if there aren't teachers in every school who would be delighted to deliver a lesson or two based around a 'resource' of a narrative such as the meeting between Colin Parry and Gerry Adams. A couple of pictures, press-cuttings from the time - 3 or 4 sides of A4 could be a very good start.

Something all those of us who are parents can do is to ask if something like this couldn't be taught in our kids' schools. Another project with similar goals is by the way.

As a serviceman in Northern Ireland at the time of 'The Troubles' I saw every day senseless acts of violence from both sides of the community.

For me the real start of the Peace Process was people like Mr Parry speaking out and NOT the politicians. These normal people highlighted the senselessness of violence to achieve political aims and demonstrated that people could talk despite being victims of an incredible crime against humanity.

These days whenever Gerry Adams or the assorted apologists for loyalist/republican violence speak I just despair at how they are unwilling to accept that their lust for violence and refusal to acknowledge the senselessness of it continued to kill innocent people for decades.

What can you say - the bravery of Colin and Wendy to confront those who brought about their worst nightmare is something I can only applaud.

Most of us, myself included, look to meet violence with violence which only exacerbates the situation.

I hope that those who wish to do violence in the name of peace think of the Parrys and do as they have done and talk rather than destroy.

Decent people will shine through, and I think you have so eloquently shown that with your piece. A very subtle, moving article.

I'd like to have witnessed the trip to America to meet those who raised funds for IRA terrorists.

Of course, in those days, for the Americans it was all about raising funds, hosting visiting terrorists and frustrating extraditions to the UK (because they wouldn't have received a fair trial!!!).

Fast forward to today and look where things are.

Who says Americans don't do irony?

For the sterling work described and the powerful narrative all credit.

Why though, are politicians of the centre right persisting in sowing the same seeds of division and resentment against Britains minorities who they know will be looked at askance in any discussion of immigration?

David Cameron - you should be ashamed of yourself.

"It was an evening that reminded me how far we'd come in a short time,"

Actually it is a damning indictment of the featherbeded mollycoddling of my fellow inhabitants of 'Norn Iron' by successive British, Irish and US governments that it took so damned long to get to a situation that a child of five could have told you was the solution to the "Troubles".

By the best estimate of the length of the "peace process", from the initial IRA ceasefire of 1994 it took twelve years to get to where we are now. Twelve years, the peace process took twice as long to sort out as the entire second world war! If one concedes that the process actually began with secret talks in 1982 then one comes to the staggering conclusion that for a quarter of a century the peace process was incubating, to produce what? A reformed power sharing government in Stormont.

That was on offer back in 1974, it was a disgrace that we allowed the Troubles to drag on so long. We convinced ourselves that the problem was "insoluble", that the best hope was "an aceptable level of violence" and ever more government subsidies to buy off the warring factions.

Two little boys were blown to pieces in Warrington for no reason whatsoever, we in Northen Ireland should hang our heads in shame and never bother civilised society with our mean little squabble ever again.

Moved me to tears also. As a parent I can't imagine anything happening like this, and I have nothing but awe for the way the Parrys have turned this into something so positive and meaningful.Well done, Nick, for your role in their recuperation, and to those there last night for having the guts to stand up and, at the very least, express regret.Let's hope that in our generation we see similar events in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I'm still very much puzzled by all this.
Was the whole point of the conflict a reason to get Martin McGuiness in as the Education Minister?
To make Gerry Adams a UK MP?

Surely,peace was not the sole intention of 20 years of Sectarian murders and Military intervention?

Peace was surely a by-product of the inevitable just as murder and violence was a similar by-product of total war?

Gerry and Martin sit in a UK Parliament, Colin has lost a son and Belfast is in Great Britain.

The end result is what exactly?

Peace is not in the equation at all.

Gary

I think that this backs up the fact that ultimately to make peace you have to talk to your enemies. You also have to put behind you all the offences real or otherwise committed during the course of the conflict.

If only the Israelis and Palestinians could do this.

On the Blair point, whatever his contribution in Northern Ireland (a project that was also pursued just as hard by his political predessors), this has been comprehensively undermined by his greater legacy which was the inclusion of Britain in the American War Adventure in Iraq on highly spurious grounds.

I salute the courage of Colin Parry to meet Adams after Sinn Fein-IRA murdered his son.

Now that Sinn Fein-IRA has apologised for all the "non combatants" it murdered, surely they also need to apologise to the families of their other victims. Sinn Fein-IRA believed it was a "war". It's a pity our own Government didn't deal with them in a more robust manner.

In the end SF-IRA were worm down by the military and various Loyalist groups and are now sitting in a British parliament in Belfast.

However the down side is that thousands of people will never get justice for loved ones murdered and injured by SF-IRA.

Very moving article, and the greatness of soul of jonathan Ball is humbling.

Puzzled about your reference to 'Leeds, where religious tensions can overspill daily'

Are we talking about a different city, or is it a typo, and you actually meant to refer to Northern Ireland at the start of the sentence?

As someone who participated in the conflict in the North of Ireland (on the republican side), I welcome Nick's blog. There is no doubt that the work of the Parry family tugged at the niggling doubts all rpeublicans have of the morality of war. Non-Combatants is an insufficient baramoter for those who deservd/ or did not deserve to die. I think that we have all suffered deeply and the testimony of the Parry family is to remind us of hopelessly futile the waging of war is. We are sorry!

May God bless Colin Parry and his family.

It simply is amazing grace.

It's disappointing that some peope still make ignorant disparaging remarks about concessions made to republican and, of course loyalist, terrorists in the effort to bring peace.

Misguided, hateful, indulgent remarks are the easiest thing in the world for those commenting from the safety of never having gone through this terrible torment.

Seeking to understand, to even begin to let go of understandable fury and to speak to and even forgive these terrible acts must be one of the most difficult things. Colin Parry should be held up as mankind at his emotional best.

The troubles Gerry Adams experienced and the sadness of the Parrys is an interesting and moving story but the underlying issues are shared by and no different for many other politicians and people. Yes, a big event like the Warrington bombing captures headlines and wrings many hands but the banalities of parliament and struggles of daily life are of equal importance to those caught up in them. And it's that strategic underpinning of positive consensus that joins big and small affairs together. The young man with no future, the old lady living alone. You. Me. It's all the same thing.

Personally, I'm not sure I could humble myself like Gerry Adams, or forgive like Colin Parry. Things like this are high on my agenda but so is being confident and sociable. As Gerry Adams suggests and Colin Parry's experience proves, how we shape our mind shapes our politics, and this in turn shapes out actions and relationships, which generate outcomes. These things are simple even obvious but can be very hard to change, even harder as we get older, and much harder if obsession and devastation touches our lives. It's why, I think, being calm and relaxed helps.

Broken Britain can learn a lot from this example. It's a very good follow on from the positive and consensual approach the Prime Minister is trying to frame for education. Britain is a very contrary and negative country. We live on a dark, wet, and windy island. Our architecture is a little stolid, and our countryside can be a little dull. A history of feudalism and invasion has helped shape our character, making us inventive and open to trade, but in our greatest strength is our greatest weakness. Perhaps, this meeting will help develop a better future. I hope so.

Nick,
I was wondering when you were going to cover the story that the Northern Rock bail-out has cost the taxpayer more than Black Wednesday? If Black Wednesday destroyed the Conservatives economic credibility, what does Northern Rock say about Labour and its' policies?

I wonder if Blair will ever go to Iraq and apologise in person to an Iraqi family at random.

You could then substitute 'Blair' for 'Adams' in that part of your story. ie:

The Iraqi's first question to Blair as they shook hands awkwardly in front of the cameras was "why Basra?". 'There was, of course, no answer. Blair had come with a speech that began with praise for the family's "grace", with a repeat of apologies the UK had given to "non combatants" and his own "sincere regret" for those who'd suffered in this "long, vicious and deadly war". It contained, however, no doubts that "the armed struggle" had been a necessary part of the search for justice in Iraq even though, he insisted, that he'd never believed in a "military solution".'

Would that be acceptable to the Iraqis, I wonder? Push for a meeting like that, and that's something that really would get you noticed.

A remarkable story spoilt only by a number of comments trying to score "Political" points off the back of it. The grace and dignity of Colin Parry I remember from news coverage at the time was evident in coverage of this event. If only some of the commentators to this blog could muster an iota of it they might look beyond claiming credit for one British Prime Minister or another, or attempting to invoke rage in the reader by referring to IRA or loyalist outrages. Alternatively they might like to try looking at the movement on both sides that made this event possible and reflect that it could equally be the case that we could be living with the troubles still if their attitudes had prevailed.

Andy Tanner-Smith: I didn't try to summarise.

Your criticism makes clear your bias.

I think it especially appropiate to note what should be universal gratitude to Tony Blair in this matter, especially in view of the almsot universal and false vilification of his name here and elsewhere.

Quietzapple:

Actually if I am biased it is toward Tony Blair's role (and indeed Mo Mowlem's), and I didn't mean to diminish it in my posting. What I was trying to say is that the blog commentaries in places in harking back to the divisiveness of the tactics of both side and trying to score political points on it does not fill me with hope that we learnt anything from the troubles.

Andy, I am sorry if I misunderstood your criticism.

It is quite true that peace has to be made in many ways.