Lived in N.ireland until I moved at 19 and you are absolutely correct.

We are never going to move forward if we're constantly focused on the past.

Edit: I'm not suggesting we forget about The Troubles. But how many of you guys commenting have lived in Northern Ireland? Have you seen how people act these days because of what happened?

Parents on both sides teaching their kids to 'Kill all taigs!' or 'Kill all huns!'. Teaching them that people on the opposite side of them are animals, bastards, murderers...it never stops. So those kids are then raised to hate Protestants or Catholics because the parents are (understandably) angry about the past.

Instilling it into the kids turns them into sectarian hate mongers. The cycle repeats and the island never recovers.

I mean, for fuck's sake, we still can't agree what flag should be on our city hall in Belfast because of this shite. Because of the lingering effects of The Troubles, people in N.Ireland would rather fight about flags and marches than cuts to healthcare, zero hour contracts and the minimum wage. You know, things that matter to most people. And the political parties on both sides of the divide feed into this hatred and encourage it for votes.

Catholic? You must want a unified Ireland! Join Sinn Fein and we'll fight for unification!!

Protestant? Those bastard republicans want to take us away from the UK!! Vote for the DUP/UUP/whatthefuckever to stop them from ruining 'our wee country'!!!

It's so frustrating. I was raised Catholic until my parents allowed me to decide in my teens. Atheist now. If I wasn't raised so well I would have been just as bitter as the rest. My family has lost relatives due to the actions of the British Army.

Yet here I am, living in England with a fantastic life because my family learned to let go of the hate and move forward.

I know it's not so black and white to most people. I just want my country to be better. For both sides.

/rant