O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us, To see oursels as others see us! No, I haven't come over all Ulster-Scots. But, since last week, that immortal line by Rabbie Burns has haunted me a little, writes David Adams.
It was while spending time in the company of a multi-ethnic group of senior editors and journalists from Macedonia that the Bard's words (or rather, a half-remembered version of them) first began to play in the back of my mind. It was then I began to see Northern Ireland as an outsider might, particularly someone from another region of conflict.
The Macedonians (a lovely group of people) were visiting Northern Ireland to discuss with journalists here the many difficulties in delivering news within a divided society.
Mediation Northern Ireland, which facilitated the visit, had commissioned me to put together a programme and accompany the visitors during their stay. After accepting (grabbing) the assignment, it dawned on me that I might be better equipped for the task if I took time to learn something about the place, and do a little comparative study.
Following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, Macedonia was largely spared the inter-ethnic violence that ravaged most of the rest of the Balkans. But it was, nevertheless, somewhat destabilised by a large influx of (mostly Albanian) refugees.
In early 2001 heavily-armed rebels launched an uprising to demand improved rights for the, by now substantial, ethnic Albanian minority.
This was resolved when agreement (the Lake Ohrid Agreement) was reached, giving ethnic Albanians greater recognition within a unitary state. A new constitution incorporating the Ohrid Agreement was formally approved by the Macedonian parliament in late 2001.
But, as always in such situations, the potential for conflict to break out again remains.
Northern Ireland is a divided society, but the term takes on a different, far more authentic, meaning when applied to Macedonia.
In Northern Ireland, ethnic difference is more imagined than real. In truth, only politics and religion separate us, and, ultimately, those are matters of individual choice.
By contrast, of Macedonia's two million inhabitants, 64 per cent are ethnic Macedonian and 25 per cent Albanian - with Turkish, Vlach, Serb, Roma and Bosnian making up the rest.
In Northern Ireland, for better or worse, we at least share a common language. Although Macedonian is the official language of Macedonia, the different ethnic groups tend to use their own (the principal among these being Albanian). Many newspapers, magazines and TV and radio stations print or broadcast exclusively in one minority language or another. In matters of religious belief, most people are Muslim or Eastern Orthodox Christian, though there are small numbers of Roman Catholics and Protestants.
The difference in economic status between Macedonia and ourselves is particularly stark. I don't know what the GNI per capita rate is for Northern Ireland, but I'm certain it is light years beyond the Macedonian average of US$1,710.
And, while in Northern Ireland only 5 per cent of the population are currently without a job, the rate of unemployment in Macedonia is somewhere in the region of 37 per cent.
In Macedonia, after about eight months of open conflict the protagonists got together and hammered out an agreement; we indulged ourselves for nigh on 30 years before moving to the same position.
Two things the Macedonian visitors found particularly striking about Northern Ireland were, conversely I suppose, our high standard of living and the depth of hatred and distrust that still exists (Northern Ireland is, after all, cited around the world as something of a model in conflict resolution). Our many "peace walls" and the almost non-existence of mixed religion communities give something of a lie to that.
For decades the world's media have reported on every nuance of the Troubles and on the convoluted course of the peace process, and billions of pounds in investment and peace money continues to be pumped in from Britain, Europe and the United States. By comparison, Macedonia has had little or no financial assistance, been largely ignored by the "world community" and left to its own devices.
We live in a democratic society and always have, with loyalties and aspirations split between liberal democracies, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, on either side of us.
I need hardly paint a picture of the Balkans, where Macedonia is situated, or the variety of religious and ethnic tensions that make that entire region something of a tinderbox.
The Macedonian people have neither prosperity nor much prospect of any in the foreseeable future.
In contrast, we are a prosperous, well-educated and over-indulged people. Basic educational facilities, particularly for minorities in Macedonia, remain in short supply.
Looking at Northern Ireland through the eyes of my Macedonian friends, though they themselves were much too courteous to say it, I could only think: what in God's name have these people got to fight about?