This island was open to change and absorbed waves of invasion. It embraced a spiritual revolution and carried it to distant lands. The old hatreds have not vanished, but the Irish have moved to peaceful co-existence. There has been famine, revolution and civil war. But in an age of uncertainty, we can surely draw strength from the memory of what has been overcome. Story of Ireland has always been a narrative of change, unpredictable and dynamic. The past is no longer a melancholy burden or a reason to hate. We're never entirely free of the claims of history, but neither are we its prisoners. Ireland today is an island of possibility, an open island.