We mark the passing of Britain’s longest ruling monarch by remembering the following words of her Majesty relevant to peace and reconciliation:

The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load.

Everyone is our neighbour; no matter what race, creed, or colour.

It has been women who have breathed gentleness and care into the harsh progress of mankind.
It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult.

When peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place.

We may hold different points of view but it is in times of stress and difficulty that we most need to remember that we have much more in common than there is dividing us.

In remembering the appalling suffering of war on both sides, we recognise how precious is the peace we have built in Europe since 1945.

Sometimes it seems that reconciliation stands little chance in the face of war and discord. But, as the Christmas truce a century ago reminds us, peace and goodwill have lasting power in the hearts of men and women.

We know the reward is peace on Earth, goodwill toward men, but we cannot win it without determination and concerted effort.