Happy Christmas

Every year now, for about a decade a Christmas market has come to Belfast. It is a vibrant place with a myriad of accents all testifying to the increasing cosmopolitian nature of this place I call home. A quick stroll and you encounter the offer of ostrich, buffalo, lamb or beef burgers, Nepalese hats and scarfs, French fancies (Oh Matron!!), German sausages, Spanish fish and Czech wooden toys. Not to mention the soaps, chocolates, beers and general mish mash of Yule tide plesantries.  It is a start to the season and reminds me of how far we have come from 1972 the year I began work in Belfast and a year in which 479 people died and almost 5,000 were injured as a result of what we euphemistically call "The Troubles". While cannot be complacent, I am hopeful of a better, more shared future and it is that vision that animates my daily work and activities.