There are 20 things worth remembering this week as we mark the 20th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.
1 Remember the voice of John Hume. For decades he delivered a "single transferable speech" about the need to unite people not places, about how violence damaged and divided Northern Ireland, and of how the EU had shown the way in reconciling one-time enemies. Ill health has deprived us of his eloquence in recent years, but the importance of his advocacy endures.
2 Remember the bereaved. The families and friends of more than 3,600 people killed during the Troubles have not gone away. The legacy of their loss still waits to be sufficiently addressed.
3 Remember the many thousands of people injured in the Troubles who also still wait for the better services and supports needed to ease their enduring physical and psychological pain.
4 Remember that there are days when politics works. Politics is occasionally capable of achieving that which was previously presumed impossible. Good Friday, April 10th, 1998, was one such day.
5 Remember how hard a pill the early release of prisoners was for many to swallow. Only some of the former combatants who were released proved repentant and became forces for peace.
6 Remember the chroniclers. There were hundreds of journalists who exercised the best skills of their craft in covering and analysing the Troubles. They included David McKittrick, Eamon Mallie, Fionnuala O'Conner and Susan McKay, who wove reportage into complex insights which helped those of us from without to better understand the intensity of the conflict and the pathways out of it.
7 Remember the public servants whose contribution to the peace process was of necessity conducted primarily in secrecy. Their achievement is understated and to date under-acknowledged.
8 Remember that there was a time when British prime ministers were truly engaged in the affairs of Northern Ireland. Tony Blair and John Major took real risks for peace and invested years of effort in achieving it, and did so for very little political return.
9 Remember the scale of the democratic support for the Belfast Agreement. Some 71 per cent of voters approved the agreement in Northern Ireland on May 22nd, 1998, and on the same day more than 94 per cent of voters in the Republic of Ireland voted for the constitutional changes necessary to facilitate its implementation. The scale of that mandate contrasts well with the slim majority by which Brexit was decided in June 2016.
10 Remember the importance of police reform, and the efforts of those who worked to enable new policing to happen. Real conflict-resolution would not have been possible without it.
11 Remember that the Belfast Agreement was just one of the key staging posts. The 1993 Downing Street Declaration, the 1994 IRA and loyalist ceasefires and the 2006 Saint Andrews Agreement were other important achievements.
12 Remember that the darkest nights often come before the brightest days. Some of the worst atrocities happened in the weeks before the first IRA and loyalist ceasefires. The Omagh bombing in August 1998 served to emphasise how important it was to anchor peace in workable political institutions.
13 Remember Mo Mowlam and her work for peace in Northern Ireland. She proved as popular – if not more popular – as her prime minister. She proved that the unconventional is often a necessary ingredient in political transformation.
14 Remember the contribution of George Mitchell. His life story reflects the ideal that is the American dream. His work in Ireland illustrated the capacity of the US, when it chooses, to be a force for much good. Northern Ireland again needs a US special envoy to help negotiate a way out of the current logjam.
15 Remember those who before and after the Belfast Agreement patiently worked on the frontline of building cross-community relations in Northern Ireland. They continue to do so.
16 Remember that in addition to the appalling human cost, the IRA and loyalist campaigns exerted a heavy economic cost on Northern Ireland. Although its economy still has weaknesses and is overly dependent on the public sector, Northern Ireland is at least freed of the additional burden of violent conflict.
17 Remember the huge scale of the security infrastructure which was once in place across Northern Ireland. Remember in particular how much of it was along the Border.
18 Remember that nobody involved in the Belfast Agreement could have foreseen the crazy decision of the UK to exit the EU.
19 Remember that even the worst days in peaceful politics are better than the days when some sought to practise their politics through violent means.
20 Remember that the impressive legacy of the agreement reached on Good Friday 1998 can never be taken for granted. It is a precious gift which the people of Northern Ireland gave to themselves.