To take a break from writing about the horrors in Ukraine, I went on a traditional music and culture tour of Ireland, led by the noted Irish musician, and former Philly resident, Mick Maloney.
Yet as I left on my trip, fears of new violence in Northern Ireland were reemerging. The impact of Britain's exit from the European Union was threatening to undermine the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of bloodshed.
However, many conversations with social activists, musicians, and ordinary folks in onetime Northern Ireland hot spots such as Armagh, Belfast, and Derry convinced me that the peace remains solid and can remain so — provided politicians in Belfast and London stop playing games.
