I visited my elderly uncle recently. He was in good form and recounted a story he had remembered from his schooldays.

A particularly successful predatory cat had kept the mouse population down in a big house and the mice got together to see what they could do.

“If we put a bell on the cat, we’d know when he was coming,” said one mouse.

“Good idea,” said another. “But who is going to volunteer to put the bell around his neck?” In the world of mice, this might be termed as taking risks for peace.

It’s easy, isn’t it, for us to use the phrase glibly and suggest our politicians should take more risks. But, the parties may well see an election coming up and point to the effects that risk takers such as John Hume and David Trimble inflicted on their own parties. And anyway, as someone pointed out recently, it’s us the voters who elect the politicians and we have the ultimate power if we don’t like what they’re doing.

Still, if somebody doesn’t show real leadership and we don’t move forward, we may well all be as doomed as the mice in my uncle’s story.

There is no doubt, surely, that we have made tremendous progress in the 20 years since the first ceasefire. We’ve seen some remarkable scenes in recent weeks, and relationships between Britain and Ireland which have been well documented.

Does this wider picture reflect better relationships within Northern Ireland. Mmm, what do you say?

Think for a moment of the Easter message. The darkness, the barbaric cruelty of the crucifixion of the Christ; the injustice of it as he took all our sins on the Cross.

Was that an end in itself? No. Then came the glorious Resurrection, the victory over death and the joy of the Risen Lord.

It’s certainly not an exact parallel, but sometimes in this country, we become mired in the awful pain and injustice of the past, but can’t quite seem to move on to claim a joyous future.

I’m sure glorifying the gun isn’t the way to deal with the past. Neither is recrimination, hatred and bitterness towards the other side, the forgiving message of love at Easter should teach Christians that. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger, according to Proverbs.

I’m honest enough to admit I don’t quite know what the answer is to heal the past, though I offer the words of John 8: “You will know the truth; the truth will make you free.” I’m worried too about the present.

A couple of interesting facts emerged in a recent poll in the Belfast Telegraph.

A major survey of young people, aged 16 to 24, was undertaken, and I highlight just two answers.

To the question “Do you believe there is peace in Northern Ireland?” an astounding 65 per cent of young people said no, there is not.

As if to back this up, the same age group was asked where they saw their future.

Only 32 per cent said in Northern Ireland.

Others said Britain 19 per cent. Republic of Ireland 21 per cent.

And a worrying 27 per cent said they saw their future further afield, such as the United States, Australia etc.

So much for the new Northern Ireland.

Young people are teaching the rest of us a lesson. Things are better than they were, for sure. But peace is dropping too slow; real peace is much more than the absence of bloody violence.

The same set of politicians may well get returned over these elections. But time is running out for them and they may well be “in government but not in power” as one British Government was once described.

There is great debate at the moment about whether more and more people will fail to vote, asking what the point is; politics itself is on trial and young people are talking about abandoning their home country.

But let us finish on an optimistic note! Considering how far we have come should be regarded by the politicians and the people as an opportunity, not a threat. Imagine if we all get together and gang up to put the bell on the cat.