Many will still remember the deaths in August 1976 which led to the founding of the Peace People. There were the three Maguire children, Joanne (8 1/2), John (2 1/2), six-week-old Andrew, and Danny Lennon, a 23-year-old IRA man.
Out of those deaths, and of the many who had died before them in the previous seven years of violence, were born the Peace People. It was a spontaneous movement when, during the last six months of 1976, over 100,000 people walked and talked and prayed and cried and laughed together every Saturday for peace.
In the 30 years of violent ethnic/political conflict in Northern Ireland, almost 4,000 people have been killed and many more injured. All those families remember their loved ones very clearly and it will always seem to them "like only yesterday" since they last heard the voices of their dead and saw them smile.
And when the anniversaries come around it seems "like only yesterday" all over again. In too many hearts and homes the pain is deep and the memories are sharp. July and August are always particularly painful times in Northern Ireland.
I have a friend who advises people in depression to wake up every morning and say "every day's a good day". Living as we do in constant conflict it is important we remind ourselves that life is beautiful and that every day is good.
But life continues to be very painful and difficult, particularly for those living in the most troubled areas of Belfast, Portadown, etc. Almost daily they have to deal with marches, anniversaries, paramilitary, and military activity.
The army helicopter constantly droning overhead, the black flags, tricolours, British flags, and an increasing assortment of loyalist paramilitary flags, painted kerbs and gable walls - are all ways used to control and dominate, to engender fear into us all, so that we don't break ranks and so we remember to "stay with our own". It's easier that way than to describe us all as "Catholic/ nationalists" and "Protestant/ unionists".
It seems, too, that even God is made to fit into those boxes. I am reminded of the story of a missionary in the Philippines who asked people there what was the biggest mistake Christians made on coming to that country. They answered: "You Christians take God and put him into a little white building called a church and think you can keep him there".
It seems to me that we have each tried to lock the spirit of God into our own little boxes of nationalist/Catholicism and unionist/Protestantism.
For all the great talk about freedom and peace, people in Northern Ireland are not free to speak their minds, nor are they given space to be themselves and live in peace in their own communities. They are afraid to speak out lest they or their families suffer. So they are silent.
When the Peace People started in 1976 it took enormous courage for the thousands of people involved to make a public stand. Many took risks for peace and inspired others to follow. However, even as we rallied for peace throughout Northern Ireland we knew we had to tackle the root cause of violence. So we campaigned for human rights, equality, justice, and non-violence, with some success and some failures.
There is much in the Good Friday agreement with which we as the Peace People can agree, and we are hopeful that the politicians will take further risks for peace in implementing it.
But we are concerned that power devolved on an ethnic basis should not be seen as a final solution. We believe that, given time, we can all work together to replace ethnic politics with the politics of social economies. The Peace People believe that it is the ordinary people, working with their elected servants the politicians, who will change Northern Ireland.
As a deeply divided people we are in need of reconciliation. Its three pillars are: truth-telling, justice, and forgiveness. Each of us can do something to change our society and build trust and friendship between each other for the first time in our history.
A reconciled non-violent Northern Irish society is not a dream. It can become a reality if enough of us are prepared to take risks for peace.
So we, the Peace People, continue our work, small as we are, in the sure conviction that peace is possible and non-violence is the way forward not only for Northern Ireland but for the people of the world.
Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Betty Williams were awarded the 1976 Nobel Prize for Peace for their work in setting up the Peace People. Their email address is info@peacepeople.com