Disengagement costs us all far too much

Yesterday’s announcement that the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to the European Union is an acknowledgement of what can be achieved through politics.

It is an acknowledgement of how successful a commitment to the common good, expressed through proactive, co-operating parliamentary democracies, can be. It is an acknowledgement of how once unimaginable stability and peace can be sustained across generations and national boundaries by political organisation. The award itself is an enviable honour with little or no tangible value, however the peace the European project has fostered is priceless.

It may be that in Ireland we have too quickly forgotten, if we ever really knew, what a terrible place Europe was just a lifetime ago. Because we were not directly involved in the war that defeated almost unimaginable evil we may underestimate the great achievement a Europe at peace represents. Scores of millions of lives were lost before Europe realised it is better to resolve conflict around a table than on a battlefield.