A Word From The Publisher

On Good Friday ten years ago, a singularly incredible event happened that should give hope to the whole world. That event was the signing of the Good Friday Accords in Northern Ireland.

For generations, the counties of Northern Ireland seethed with hatred and violence as children grew up taught to hate people from the "other" group. It seemed as though there would never be an end to the fighting, just occasional lulls. For years news reports were full of incidents of bombings and shootings as one group or the other attacked. In spite of it all, the people of Northern Ireland eventually were able to create a lasting peace, although one that took years of stop and start negotiations to bring about.

We believe that at some point the average people just got sick of the fighting, and began to consider compromise as a good alternative. In the Good Friday Accords, both sides had to come to the table willing to give up some things for the greater good of the nation. It was no longer acceptable for the leaders to treat the opposition as "them" and act as if "their" desires weren't worthy of consideration.

The Northern Ireland peace, although little remarked upon now, could be used as a model for conflicts throughout the world. Mutual compromise is better than war.

Maybe there are lessons to be learned here in Garden City, too. (How many more years will the St. Paul's bickering go on?)

Meg Morgan Norris

Publisher