Dealing with the North's troubled past is daunting, former CoI primate Lord Eames tells Dan Keenan
Lord Eames compares the effort to "deal with the past" to a step into unknown territory. All he can offer is a "clean sheet with total independence".
Denis Bradley is quick to dispel the notion that there is a one-size-fits-all solution to the complex problems of Northern Ireland's past.
"I will be very surprised if at the end of a year there will be one, single answer. There are going to be so many views I would guess there will be many solutions rather than one."
Indeed he adds, there may not even be a solution "but merely the best that can be done at the time".
Dr Eames, co-chair of the group that will address the handling of the legacy of the Troubles, says the only way to begin is with an open mind and a willing ear.
"We are a listening group," he stresses repeatedly, and a group which will write its advisory report at the end of its work. There will be no early drafts and 'anything is possible'."
The former Church of Ireland primate denies this initiative is in competition with other bodies attempting to deal with history's ability to complicate Northern Ireland's present.
"The inquiries, the [ Police] ombudsman's work is but part of the picture. I could take you into homes where the photographs on the mantelpiece tell their own story. There is now a generation growing up in our schools who have no baggage and to whom this is only history. I want to try to help create a report which addresses all those aspects in their turn."
Will this be the final piece of the jigsaw? "Who knows," he answers. "It may be one of the final pieces of the jigsaw if we do our job properly. But it is by no means the end of the story."
Dr Eames and Mr Bradley believe this initiative would not have emerged had efforts to restore powersharing failed.
"That had to be the political platform for this," says Dr Eames. "The second thing is, there is no right time to start dealing with the ordinary memories and problems - but at least we've got a fair wind so long as there is hope in the political situation." Mr Bradley concurs: "Is it too soon to start this? Probably. For some it will always be too soon."
Asked bluntly if the task is daunting, Mr Bradley says: "Yes. This is a very tough task and I think some people will welcome this but others may well be angered by it. People may well be suspicious of it . . . as far as I am concerned people will not come forward with their views and ideas on the ways forward if they have hurts that they think are not being dealt with."
Such people need to be assured that they are not being "written out of history" by being ignored, he continues.
"This [ initiative] will not wrap it all up and put it away in a little box and say 'this is now all right'. But at least it's an effort."
Dr Eames clarifies that this committee dealing with the North's troubled legacy is not equivalent to what happened in South Africa.
"Some people think this is going to be the Truth and Reconciliation Commission like South Africa. But that's not what we're about. We may recommend that if that's what people want."
For Lord Eames the significance of the work is easily summed up. "How Northern Ireland deals with its collective memory will have a tremendous influence on the Northern Ireland of the future. It's about addressing the power of memory and how we deal with that."