WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols shares her thoughts in this week’s column.

This past week all our thoughts have turned to remembering the horrific events of thirty years ago and the worst day in our town’s history.

I was honoured to attend the commemoration ceremony where we paid our respects to the memory of Johnathan Ball, Tim Parry and Bronwen Vickers and heard moving speeches from their families.

I remain in awe at how they and our community have taken such terrible tragedy and turned it towards something positive and inspirational.

All parts of our town are united in this solidarity; I was very moved to watch the St Patrick’s Day parade stop at the memorial on Bridge Street to lay wreaths and pray as they do every year in the spirit of reconciliation.

In Sir John Major’s speech he said that when he heard the news he feared that this was the end of the peace process, and of course anger was fully natural and justified.

But the love and support that Warrington gave to the families, and the moral leadership that they showed and continue to show meant something different.

They didn’t want to be symbols of revenge, they just wanted to take care of their families.

They had every right to anger, but what they wanted was peace.

We now have a generation who has only ever known peace on our islands. What was once unthinkable is now our everyday expectation.

I found eight year-old Arthur Parry’s poem about his uncle Tim very profound as the perspective of someone for whom we have to make peace work.

The Irish Ambassador told me that this is how he views the young people in his country as well.

It falls on all of us today to recognise that sadly peace is not automatic and cannot be assumed.

Throughout political tensions and the challenges that we have faced in recent years over the Northern Irish Protocol, we must remember what is at stake for all of us.

We have to continue to reflect, honour and work to sustain and improve peace, while keeping alive memory of what brought us here.

The solidarity and love of the people of Warrington continue to set an example for the rest of the country.