IN moments of crisis, the unthinkable becomes thinkable once again, as the very words and ideas which tie society together unravel.

These are moments of peril, but possibility too.

The terms ‘reconciliation’ and ‘shared society’ have become so well established in Northern Ireland as to almost be beyond critique.

It’s been this way for some time – “shared but equal is not an option” declared the 2005 policy document setting out the road map for creating a ‘shared future’ for the province.

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But why is “separate but equal” not an option? Is reconciliation really what Northern Ireland should be aiming towards?

Why do we need a shared society?

These kinds of questions were being asked in the mid-2000s, by those then critical of the peace process.

In the intervening decades, many of these critiques were removed from the public sphere as Stormont gathered steam.

The recent events in Drumcree have brought them back into the limelight.

Clearly, as the events on the Garvaghy Road demonstrate, the peace process has failed to create the ‘reconciled’ Northern........

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