Two tales and both stem from circa 1996/97 in Northern Ireland and were part of the period in time that became known as the “Peace Process”.
Maximum Velocity’s staff were there or thereabouts when the following two incidents occured.
First there was a potential flashpoint in the small village of Bellaghy in County Londonderry. Over the years one of the rival religious traditions had held marches up and down the main street in the village at certain times during the year to celebrate various cultural traditions.
These were becoming increasingly contentious, and violence loomed. Two senior politicians were sent to mediate with the various local interests, one a well known “firebrand” within one of the traditions and the other, a more calm “Elder Statesman”.
Common sense prevailed, a compromise was achieved and the “firebrand” wanted to call a Press Conference to announce what had happened. The calmer, more measured strategy prevailed with the simple words.
“No… no one knows we’re here, let’s leave it this way and just live by our results”
The second tale comes from a “Question and Answer Forum” held as part of the West Belfast Festival in 1996. The panel consisted of leading International politicians from both, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and also the USA.
The question was asked:
“Does Northern Ireland need a Nelson Mandela figure to lead it forward to a more peaceful future?”
One of the more interesting responses was..
“No, Northern Ireland needs an FW De Klerk”.
Sometimes to get to where you want to be you have to recognise that you have to lead people to where you want them to go, to show the way rather than shout, scream and fight..”
At Maximum Velocity, our principals have the experience to see life differently.