Problems in Northern Ireland are down to politics based on tribalism
YEARS ago I was asked to help out on a training course for candidates who were running for election to one of the early Northern Ireland assemblies. It was a broad, cross-party group, most (though not all) young. The requirement was for the sort of basic skills that candidates need — how to stand up in front of an audience and make a speech, how to prepare and issue a press release, that sort of thing.
After I had done my presentation, I set them each the task of writing a five-minute speech on the subject of their choice — about 600 words each. When they were done, they had to read what they had written to their colleagues.
