Creating a united Northern Ireland, Ctd

Whether you're a unionist or a nationalist, we need a united Northern Ireland. A people united by a shared sense of purpose. United by mutual respect, interest and regard. United by the shared goal of creating a stable and properous country. United by the desire to create a warm, open and plural society where people want to come, start a business and raise a family. United by a sense of a shared identity. As Roger Scruton said on his recent series 'Of the People, By the People' for Radio 4:

"There has to be a first-person plural we if the many are to stay together, accepting each others opinions and desires regardless of disagreements."

Roger Scruton then explained why mutual interest and respect are so critical to creating a stable society:

"People have to take their neighbours seriously, as fellow citizens with an equal claim to protection. They do this because they see themselves as living together in a shared home.
The history of the world is proof of this. Wherever people identify themselves in ways that are not shared by their neighbours then the date falls apart at the first serious blow. Yugoslavia, Syria, Nigeria and Lebanon."

Politicians in Northern Ireland need to create a system that will transcend loyalties and give a first-person plural, not a sectarian system of them and us. Without mutual interest, respect and regard, trust, generosity and cooperation cannot exist. We need to set aside sectarian and partisan interests in order to do what is right and in the long term welfare of the country. As economist Paul Collier said on Radio 4's Start the Week of Monday 21 October 2013:

"The genius of modern society, successfully societies is building mutual regard amongst people who don't know each other."