I've arrived in Boston for a 3-day conference on divided cities, with delegates from Kirkuk (Iraq), Mitrovica (Kosovo/Serbia), Nicosia (Cyprus), Derry/Londonderry and Belfast (Northern Ireland). I had some responsibility in securing delegates from Nicosia, as well as Derry/Londonderry and Belfast.

The premise of the conference is that people from divided societies are the best people to help others in divided societies.

The Boston Irish Reporter described the organisation of the conference:

The conference is being convened by Padraig O'Malley, the John Joseph Moakley Distinguished Professor of Peace and Reconciliation at UMass Boston's McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies. In addition to dealing with issues such as race, ethnicity, religion, and political ideology, as well as the geographical flashpoints within each city where different sides clash, conferees will also discuss, in smaller groups, non-partisan topics such as electricity, water, and sewer systems and seemingly mundane topics, but topics about which O'Malley believes opposing parties can find common ground, and then work towards a greater understanding.

Ultimately, said O'Malley, the hope is that the representatives will agree to form a "club" of divided cities;annual meetings with each of the participating cities hosting the others on a rotating basis. For now, though, O'Malley just hopes to bring the group together, show them their common ground, and let the participants take it from there, including the setting of each day's agenda.

"If they say, 'Where's the agenda?,' my response will be 'There is no agenda, because this conference is yours," says O'Malley, "and you, as people from divided cities, have a far better idea of what you should be talking about to each other, than I do. This conference is yours, not ours. We are here to serve you, not to impose on you."

The conference will end with a public panel discussion on Thursday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. at UMass Boston's Campus Center, titled "Divided Cities: Common and Uncommon."

The conference is being created through a partnership with the American Ireland Fund, with sponsorship from Robert and JoAnn Bendetson, the Connors Family Fund, the Doubletree Hotel Bayside, the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University, the John Joseph Moakley Archive and Institute at Suffolk University, Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at UMass Boston, the University of Massachusetts system, the University of Massachusetts Boston, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and William Monroe Trotter Institute at UMass Boston.

I am pleased to say that the Northern Ireland delegation arrived safely. It was Derry City Council Deputy Mayor Maurice Devenney's first trip to America, and the jet lag affected him promptly; Alderman Devenney retired early. For the rest of us who knew that the best way of beating east-west jetlag is to stay up as late as possible on the first night, we chatted over some refreshments.

Prof. O'Malley greeted all delegates at an evening reception, and some inter- and intra-group networking had already commenced. O'Malley explained how the next several days would work, and all took it in stride.

If you have any questions about the work we do or the programmes we've got planned, please drop me a line!

I look forward to learning your thoughts on this initiative. Even better, put them on the Our Future Together site -- via blog postings, comments, and the topical discussion forum!

I was among hundreds at the Queen’s University organised event to watch the live broadcast of President Obama’s inaugural address, and I couldn’t help but filter his words through my world of Northern Ireland.

Of course, others have pondered whether the people Northern Ireland -- or for that matter, Ireland, the UK, France, Germany or elsewhere -- could elect a Barack Obama of their own, someone from an ethnic minority to the highest office of the land.

But I’m more interested whether we can take Obama’s rhetoric for inspiration, appropriately.

President Obama said, “we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord ... we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for too long have strangled our politics”.

Here, I am learning of an increased frustration among ordinary people of Northern Ireland -- i.e. the non-political class -- at the continued blame-game and communal point scoring that takes place at our Northern Ireland Assembly, when what people want is more action that is going to improve the livelihoods of us all, regardless of which section of the community we’re proud to be from.

It is as though the politicians have forgotten “the risk takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path”. There are so many unthanked community workers and background facilitators in the peace we enjoy in Northern Ireland today.

The question that we have yet to answer is the rest of the path. What journey are we on? “Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.” Do we wish to remake Northern Ireland?

Oh, that’s too much to ask, the cynics say; we should just settle for some uneasy truce.

But that’s not what I’m hearing from regular folk, on the radio and op-ed pieces. To rephrase Obama’s query, the question we ask today is not whether our government is Orange or Green, but whether it works.

“We need to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.” This unarguably applies to us here as well.

Northern Ireland has had its own “dark chapter” of segregation and sectarianism, from which we are emerging from, hopefully for the better. Indeed, much is left to do, to determine whether “old hatreds” will pass and the role we in Northern Ireland play in developing peace, both at home and abroad. Here, we could be world leaders, if we choose to be.

Thus, it is ultimately up to us to chart our own future.

Our history is our own -- this ain’t the American-style melting pot of e pluribus unum.

But it is our own responsibility to shape our own destiny. It must be based on the interdependent nature of our society and those that immediately surround us. While some have accentuated difference, I emphasise what binds us -- not what would make us the same, but what acknowledges, honestly, that this place just couldn’t be without all of its diverse traditions and identities.

What we do with the pieces of our societal jigsaw puzzle is up to us, only us.

I believe it is our future together.

It’s like the barber shop sign I read, long ago, “You can’t get rich in a small town because there’s too many people watching.” Likewise, there are too many of us to let any one section get its way alone; better we figure out how to make this place work better, together.

Allan Leonard is Director of the Northern Ireland Foundation.

As Barack Obama’s momentous victory is still reverberating across the globe, Ex-pat American Allan Leonard reflects on how Northern Ireland may benefit Is there anyone in Northern Ireland today, ready to take on a similar role to that of Barack Obama in America and unite our still divided community?

It was a long campaign for Barack Obama to get elected as President of the USA. After an all-night session with multiple television channels and frantic clicking a battery of websites throughout the vote count, I've shut out the distractions for a moment to reflect on what Obama's victory can teach us in Northern Ireland.

There is no denying the historic significance of an African-American achieving the highest public office of America. There will be plenty of authors of that essay.

Likewise, Obama's campaign will serve as a textbook case of how to tap into new audiences (young, disaffected) using new techniques (for example micro-donations on the web).

Globally, much of the world may be impressed by this unlikely of events, a man with humble origins from an ethnic minority who has galvanised unity, representing a new hope, if only to correct some of the wrongs of the past American administration.

I read and hear repeatedly about how America is different in this regard. How America, as an immigrant nation, can absorb new cultures better than others. How its sense of nationalism is based on a civic ideal, rather than a historical legacy of culture. How its optimism and ‘can-do’ spirit makes it better placed to face new challenges.

I don't see how progressing society is the preserve of American citizens.

My concern is that these attributed qualities excuses others from examining diversity and modernity in their own societies. Here, Ethan Bronner (International Herald Tribune) writes a well-informed and reflective article, ‘For many abroad, an ideal renewed’.

Here in Northern Ireland, where I call home, I see much friendliness and generosity of spirit. Folk don't suffer fools gladly, and everyone's got something to say.

But much like the matter of race relations in America, when it comes to our own divided histories, neither America or Ireland has yet to have that discussion. Obama made his point in his ‘More Perfect Union’ speech, during the campaign earlier this year.

And maybe Americans still won't have that conversation. Maybe they'll decide that electing an African-American is good enough, or all that can be done, for now.

But if America is ready for that conversation, I couldn't think of a better opportunity or set of circumstances, particularly considering Obama's own diverse family history.

We should be considering our own conversation here. We've at least started to set up some necessary frameworks, such as a power-sharing form of government and the Healing Through Remembering cross-community project.

What would obviously help is a transformational figure. Someone who can draw upon his or her personal experiences, who can speak to the legacy of our troubled history without having to rely upon it. Someone who can propose a positive agenda, reaching out beyond traditional constituencies. Someone who knows how hard it will be to achieve change through the system, yet demonstrates determination and resilience to make it happen.

Lest one despairs this as wholly idealistic, I actually witness this in Northern Ireland by numerous individuals, including politicians.

But it many times fails to reach the critical point where sufficient people get behind the project.

As those who got involved in the Obama campaign can attest, if you want change you need to be part of the change.

I am doing my part by trying to encourage this process in Northern Ireland. Considering how much we have been able to achieve in only the past 15 years, there is so much working in our favour. Yes, many hard challenges remain. But if we are to take inspiration from America today, it's that Barack Obama didn't achieve just a personal victory for himself, or a historic moment for African-Americans.

What Obama's message of hope and change really means is that coming together for a better future is worth the effort.

Allan Leonard is the Director of the Northern Ireland Foundation.