The Queen wanted us to live in peace in our shared home place

I was fortunate enough to meet Her Majesty the Queen on a number of occasions, all of which were focussed on building and maintaining positive community relations in Northern Ireland, the island of Ireland and across these islands.

On one occasion, she asked me with genuine concern whether community relations were improving in Northern Ireland.

I assured her that they were.

She was concerned for all of us, whatever our background or constitutional preference.

She wanted us to live in peace in our shared home place.

The Queen’s visit to the Republic of Ireland was obviously important to her, as she felt it was a relationship that needed to be healed.

She was prepared to show the necessary leadership to help that process.

She was a peacemaker, who was aware of the difficulties, but sought solutions to overcome them.

In taking this approach she inspired many people.

These instincts came from a duty to serve for the benefit of the people.

I have met King Charles III too and he holds the same values, while we see them too in his son William, the new Prince of Wales.

In Northern Ireland this summer, we’ve witnessed too many negative stories about community relations.

Fortunately, there is another, much more positive story, which is not always reflected in the media.

When the Queen asked me whether things were improving, I told here that people were getting on with their lives and concerning themselves with the issues that really mattered.

They wanted our problems to be addressed, but recognised that they lived in a beautiful place, with great people, many of whom were building relationships and facing up to hatred.

The same is true today.

Hatred is taught and it can be untaught.

In Dublin in 2011, Her Majesty said: “With the benefit of hindsight we can all see things that we would wish we had done differently or not at all.”

These were such wise words, encouraging reflection by all of us.

During her reign she helped move an Empire to a Commonwealth of friends.

We should have more courage in the strength of that argument and challenge those who promote other, less constructive narratives.

Trevor Ringland, Bangor