McAleese unveils Peace Bell at Áras

President Mary McAleese today unveiled a Peace Bell at Áras an Uachtaráin to mark the tenth anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.

Dating from the 19th Century, the bell is suspended from oak trunks which came from Co Antrim and Co Dublin. 

The Peace Bell was later blessed in a multi-faith service.

Mrs McAleese said the  Agreement helped shift the massive obstacles left by history.

“Some of them were shifted by largescale politics but many were shifted by the smallscale, quiet, courageous efforts of individuals and groups who build bridges of human kindness and contact across the wasteland of contempt and fear,” she said. 

Speaking about the future, Mrs McAleese said: “We have no excuse for getting it wrong, for we know the mistakes of the past and we know the cruelty they inflicted.

“We have this wonderful opportunity to build a new culture of good neighbourliness and of mutually respectful collaboration.”

Several cross-community groups from both sides of the Border were invited to today’s event.

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