Comments by the former head of the civil service in Northern Ireland suggesting that some form of Irish unity is not unthinkable in principle show that the "unthinkable can and does happen", the Glencree Summer School heard yesterday.
In her outgoing address as the chief executive of the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Máirín Colleary said Sir Kenneth Bloomfield's words were "not what we might have expected to hear in the past".
"However, there is an opportunity and indeed a responsibility for us all to share our processes and our experience internationally with others still suffering from conflict," she said. "I believe that Ireland, with its experience of conflict and peace processes, can share expertise with other countries which are still engaged in conflict."
This was a time of significant political change and opportunity in Ireland, following elections on both parts of the island, where people had voted clearly for their leaderships, Ms Colleary also noted.
"Challenges of deep division and sectarianism remain and will take years of slow and careful work to heal," she added.
Ms Colleary was speaking at the opening yesterday of this year's summer school, which is entitled Courage to Continue the Journey: Dismantling Divisions.
Yesterday's session also heard an address from Martin Territt, director of the European Commission representation in Ireland.
Describing the European Union as the "greatest peace project of all time", Mr Territt expressed his hope that a new reform treaty would be agreed by EU leaders in the coming months.
He also hoped that this would be ratified by all 27 members of the EU by the middle of 2009.
He said it was the belief of the EU Commission that the new treaty would deliver "real tangible benefits to our citizens and the wider world".
"We need to build the capacity of the union, not just to deliver for our own citizens, but to reach out to the wider world and help build peace beyond our shores," he said.
The Glencree Summer School continues today and tomorrow.