Ms Hilary Copeland:

I relocated to Dublin this summer and took up the post of acting director of the Irish Writers Centre. I have just moved outside Croke Park and have become a great deal more acquainted with GAA jerseys. It is about learning from people who can share their stories with each other, ask, "What's that?", and explain it to somebody who is on their level in a way that is without fear and judgement - possibly a bit of judgement because kids are very good at ribbing each other. I learned more there about cultural differences than I could have been taught formally. As chair of Integrated AlumNI, I have the privilege of working with adults who feel this is so important to them that they want to give up their time and energy to continue to talk about it. It is difficult to manage a committee. Everyone has different opinions and is coming from different positions. What better training for dealing with difficult political issues than being taught and formed as an adult to share their experiences, discuss differences and learn how to do that in a grown-up fashion, which I would love to see reflected in our political leadership.