Letter: Peace proms event inspired pride and belief in the future and in young people

In the RDS Dublin, in February, we, the grandparents, went to see our grandson perform in a peace prom. We recently repeated the experience, this time in the Odyssey Belfast, with two more grandsons.

Both venues had a morning and evening performance with, in total, 5,000 children from primary schools throughout Ireland, singing and dancing while they sent out wave after wave of pure joy.

They were magnificently supported by the Cross Border Orchestra Ireland (CBOI) young solo musicians, dancers, pipers, and the wonderful female soloist Lauren Murphy.

For over two hours all the performers, conducted by the charismatic and completely-in-control Greg Beardsell, held the audience spellbound. When the conductor raised his baton, thousands of kids, in perfect unison, stood up to sing – synchronization that most amateur and some professional choirs would envy.

The CBOI was established in the mid- 90s with the worthy but difficult aim of bringing children across borders to learn together and make music. And in the beginning, it was tough, with suspicion in some quarters about anything that might hint at closer north/south ties or even between different communities here. It is a tribute to the vision and tenacity of the founder, Sharon Tracey Dunne, that the peace proms in 2024 features over 35,000 children from every corner of Ireland.

The cynics amongst us will say that a few hours together making music changes nothing. But as someone who worked in, and with, the community all my career, I beg to differ.

It is precisely this commitment to a peaceful way forward that motivated a myriad of community workers to work across and through communities throughout Northern Ireland, and Ireland.

They listened, empathised, and facilitated the simple activity of meeting and sharing, with people from all backgrounds. It was this painstaking work that changed mindsets here, and formed the foundation for the Good Friday Agreement.

The political agreements were the icing on the cake, but the heavy lifting work was done and continues to be done quietly by people of all ages and persuasions - people like the musicians, teachers and volunteers who made this year’s peace proms such an amazing success.

Every single person who attended a peace prom event will have come away energised electrified and bursting with pride and belief in the future and in the wonderful young people of Ireland.

Breidge Gadd, Belfast