DANCE, drama, photography and seminars inspired a weekend of conflict resolution and marked the culmination of Wendy and Colin Parry's dream for the peace centre.

The Tim Parry Scholarship, which has formerly taken place in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, came to Warrington bringing 24 young people together to reconcile differences and maintain friendships.

Their enthusiasm for the centre was obvious from the outset, with cries of 'It's like a hotel!' echoing around the building, and it was clear that the friendships which the young people had forged in Ireland were still as strong as ever.

During the weekend I was struck by the young people's intelligent contributions during discussions about conflict, particularly the Northern Ireland situation, and noted how many said their opinions had broadened and even changed through the scholarship.

On Friday the youngsters were taken through the process which led to the formation of the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Young People's Centre, from Bridge Street, where the bomb claimed the lives of the two boys, to the memorial at Great Sankey High School and through to the present day which sees the state-of-the-art building open for business.

Much of the group's work on Saturday morning was a bit too active for me when at 9.30am I found myself jumping around the sports hall during a 'conflict through dance' session with professional tutor Sarah Black.

Although the youngsters initially had reservations about the dance they were soon throwing themselves into the activities, which included lifting each other up to encourage trust, and using body language to show both conflict and resolution.

Later the groups split into three and my group took part in a video workshop with Granada TV producer Vicky Matthews. I was again struck by their enthusiasm and their perceptions about the reasons for various conflicts.

Other groups worked on drama presentations and photography, which had an element of humour but were thoughtfully presented, with many of the young people dressing up to make their roles more realistic.

Following their hard work on Saturday the young people took a trip to the Trafford Centre where many from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were looking forward to experiencing a multi-racial society in contrast to the white culture of their own countries.

Sunday saw the most moving part of the weekend with a seminar given by Holocaust survivor Paul Oppenheimer.

Mr Oppenheimer was incarcerated in Belsen Concentration Camp in 1944 and told his story with humour and dignity.

This experience gave the youngsters a chance to hear about some of the worst results of conflict, prejudice and hatred which had a major impact on them.

Sunday afternoon's activity sent ripples of excitement through some and groans through others because it was a trip to Manchester United Football Stadium at Old Trafford. The young people were given a tour around the ground and heard about the experiences of black footballers during a workshop on racism in the sport.

Monday saw a workshop with youth worker Patrick Cahoon about young people and their right to democratic peace, encouraging them to get even more involved in the peace process.

The scholarship creates a warm environment which forges friendships between young people whose country's history is scarred by conflict. They want to overcome these problems to live in peace.

Colin Parry said: "The idea after the bombing was to have a place where young people from different countries could come and work together and seven and a half years later we've finally got our very first exchange group here and most significantly it's the Tim Parry Scholarship group.

"My reactions are we've finally got here and we've arrived but we still

have much to do. But it is a beginning."

The determination of the young people and the help of the scholarship and other programmes are what will help forge the way for resolution in the future.