Horror in Norway - A society shaken to its very core

THANKFULLY, there is a generation on this island not inured to the terrorist atrocities that took so many lives, and ruined many more, in the name of something that could never trump democracy.

There is a generation, North and South, that has not spent the hours between news flashes on the latest atrocity and the confirmation of the death toll wondering how many innocents were murdered this time. Over the three decades the great majority of people on this island spent many hours on tenterhooks wondering how many lives had been wrongly taken in their name. Even longer periods were spent wondering why intelligent people resorted to terrorism, wondering what shaped their conscience. Even at this remove, especially now that politics has achieved that which always remains beyond the reach of terror, it remains a mystery.

This morning, and for many mornings to come, the almost impossible task of resolving that mystery falls to the people of Norway, their friends and neighbours.