Understanding the shared history of the people of this island was vital in fully understanding where we were going in future, the Northern Ireland Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Mr Michael McGimpsey, has said.
Speaking in Dublin on Tuesday at the opening of a travelling version of the Act of Union Bicentenary Exhibition at the Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Mr McGimpsey said the exhibition was an opportunity to gain an insight into our shared past.
He said it was important to reflect that it was part of our shared heritage, and whether people were for or against the Act of Union the fact was this was a defining moment in modern Irish history. The ramifications of it were continuing to this day.
"In order to full understand where we are going in any venture, whether in politics or in any other facet of life, it is vital to appreciate where we are coming from. And, of course, that certainly does require a proper understanding of the past," he said.
Mr McGimpsey said that what we had in common was far more important and that was what they were looking at in future in terms of the political process in Northern Ireland. "I think that being comfortable with our past, and not living in our past, is one of the things we are looking to do as we learn to be comfortable with our present as well, as we go forward into the future and grasp the opportunities that are there for us."
As Minister for Culture, he said, he wanted to ensure that the projection of one culture must not mean a diminution of another.
It was appropriate, he said, that the event was held in the Bank of Ireland as it was adjacent to the former home of the old Irish Parliament. The bank had lent a number of items for display in the main bicentenary exhibition in the Ulster Museum, which would run until December 21st.
The exhibition will be on display until tomorrow week, when it will go on the road.