[Tonight it is] 40 years exactly to the very time that I can recall vividly where I was and what I was doing.

I was sitting in the bar at the Killyhevlin Hotel with a small group of journalists from British daily newspapers who were in disbelief, wondering if Unionists were genuine in conceding that the next day’s election count would see IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands being declared as Fermanagh and south Tyrone MP.

They only had to look across the room to see a group of senior Unionist figures in shock to confirm it.

The next day Returning Officer, Alastair Patterson announced formally at the old Fermanagh College that Sands polled more than 30,000 votes, over a thousand ahead of Ulster Unionist, Harry West.

I stood a few feet away in the College hall being used for the count, but the rest of the world watched and, whatever your political outlook, it was one of those iconic moments and a pivotal one in history.

At the time, the community was incredibly divided, with tensions even seeing schoolchildren waiting for school buses throwing abuse – and stones – at each other.

I’ve often felt that the election saw a sea change in the political atmosphere in this area; when I was growing up Unionists generally retained control of the local Council, but a more confident Nationalist/Republican population was emerging.

By 1985, Sinn Fein had fully embraced electoral politics to the point where they became the largest single party on Fermanagh District Council and Paul Corrigan was elected chairman at his first meeting.

The tectonic plates had shifted, and the Unionist population, already feeling under siege after a decade of an IRA campaign, now felt a mood of further defensiveness.

On the wider front, it was a seminal moment for politics in Ireland, north and south, and in my opinion the establishment has never fully come to terms with the rise of Sinn Fein over four decades.

The hunger strike, of course, isn’t the only anniversary this year.

It’s 100 years since the formation of Northern Ireland, with numerous events and projects marking the Centenary. It’s also 50 years since the introduction of internment without trial.

As with all points in our history, remembering them tends to mean different things to different people.

Despite a speech by President Michael D Higgins a couple of years ago for “a willingness to be open to the perspective, stories, memories and pains of the stranger”, the opposing narratives can become divisive and controversial.

There’s another anniversary coming up. This Saturday, April 10, was Good Friday in 1998 when the Agreement was signed which one of the facilitators, President Bill Clinton described as “a work of genius” for creating space to involve the identities of all people in Northern Ireland.”

Like many other points in our history, it was a landmark moment; unlike many others it was one that both sides had the opportunity of sharing a narrative they could agree on.

Well, at least the 71 per cent who voted in favour of it in a referendum could share the hope, despite reservations, that it would provide a framework for a peaceful shared future.

But 23 years on, can we still say the same?

We should say that, initially, the DUP opposed it and there were reservations from other Unionists, and indeed as arrangements broke down periodically over the years necessitating negotiations which at times unpicked parts of the Agreement.

Still, the principles of the Agreement were that the people’s right to be identified as British or Irish would be respected, that both the main communities would share power and that consent would be needed for constitutional change.

In all the tension over 23 years, and the recent worrying street violence, we should remember that the Agreement principles are still a sound basis for moving forward. We can’t sleepwalk back into the past, surely?

Bill Clinton also referred to the Agreement by saying that it should “let future demographic, economic and political change take Northern Ireland wherever it would go.”

And that is where we are at the moment as change happens all around and politics grapples with what the vision is for the future. Where do we go, what is our destination and who decides?

We already live in different times as regards east-west, north-south and international relationships, most notably with the debate over the possible impending break- up of the United Kingdom.

Internally in Northern Ireland, the demographics have changed to the point that neither Unionists or Nationalists/Republicans are in a majority, and indeed drill down further and among younger voters in particular the old emphasis on flags, identity and traditional differences are no longer important to them.

Unionists in particular struggle with change, and the leadership as a whole hasn’t fully joined the debate that has already started about taking ownership of how we can create a better society for everyone.

As a result of uncertainty, people retreat back into their silos.

So what we get, in the short-term, is the disturbing violence of young loyalists being used by sinister figures behind the scenes. That’s where the real blame lies; but is it a coincidence that a day or two after Unionist leaders undermined the PSNI for their own political agenda, that these young loyalists were out on the streets?

I feel for the ordinary people in loyalist areas, who are being used and abused by career criminals in loyalist paramilitaries on the one hand, and on the other let down continuously by mainstream Unionism over the years.

Neither of the two main parties have covered themselves in glory, and Sinn Fein should hold their hands up and show some contrition for their attitude and behaviour over the Bobby Storey funeral.

Overall, some courageous leadership is needed to draw back from this latest crisis, if 2021 isn’t to become another point in history where we slide back into the past. Whatever the constitutional position, a truly shared society must be the only show in town.

We can be obsessed with the past, but it’s still a truism that if we don’t learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it.