The people of Northern Ireland have done the impossible by making the radical shift from a culture of endemic conflict to a culture of consensus, the President, Mrs McAleese, has told a Belfast audience.
Speaking at the annual Aisling Awards, Mrs McAleese said people were building trust not just on an individual but on a community basis.
"The thousands of Catholics and Protestants, unionists and nationalists, who said `yes' to the Good Friday agreement signed up to both a personal and community commitment to promote a culture based on equality, justice, reconciliation and mutual respect. There was a considerable trust deficit on both sides, a deficit only time and effort and fidelity to that common vision, that shared vision, will rectify," she said.
No one who had lived here could have had any illusions about the bumps and difficulties likely to be encountered, the President said. She praised the role of businesspeople who had played a major part in building relationships that crossed the community divide.
"Their pragmatism and understanding of the link between peace, partnership and prosperity have brought a welcome new air of political reality. The spirit of optimism is sustained by enthusiasts from every walk of life. They use a new language, they challenge old biases, they insist on releasing all the potential energies that partnerships can create, knowing how much opportunity has been wasted in the past by the narrow focus on working against rather than with each other," she added.
Earlier, Mrs McAleese launched a women's community project in west Belfast's Turf Lodge area, entitled "The Voices Women's Project". She praised the links which women's groups from different communities had formed across the political divide.