Mr. Maurice Sadlier:

I have just completed work on how peace is fragile. Mindanao in the Philippines has been an area of conflict for over 40 years. There have been secession agreements. We are proposing that women be used as mediators. Peace is fragile. Community members should be trained not just for sustainable peace but to mediate where there are outbreaks of conflict. I was quite clear that women have to step in as mediators, since they will be listened to, so that further outbreaks are prevented and it does not grow in scale. We see it everywhere. Peace is fragile. It is difficult and it will get more difficult. As Deputy Stanton said, the world is squeezed for resources and there is increasing conflict. We need to look at how we maintain peace and support communities to come up with their own approaches to peace and learn from what we know here. We have much experience with peace processes in Ireland to share with the world and learn from.