The world has grown weary of Northern Ireland and is impatient for a solution to its political problems, the Church of Ireland Primate of All Ireland has said.
"Irish history is ready to move on," Archbishop Robin Eames said in an interview with Reuters news agency.
"We need to recognise in Northern Ireland that the world is getting more and more tired of our failure to build peace," he said.
"They are saying, 'You have had every chance to do this. Look at what has happened in eastern Europe and what is happening in the Middle East. Why on earth can't you get your act together?' I can understand their impatience with us."
He said Northern Ireland's "greatest problem is how you deal with our memories. Memories dictate one way or another the person we are today and the person we want to be tomorrow.
"We have got to get our priorities right in the way society looks back over its shoulder," he added.
Archbishop Eames praised David Trimble who lost his Westminster seat earlier this month.
"I think David Trimble paid the cost of so many pioneers in a reconciliation process. Too many people thought he was going too far ahead of the pack. They were worried there was not going to be enough pressure brought on paramilitaries to disarm," he said.