Attendees at a reception in the House of Lords heard how an ambitious oral history project hopes to capture the recollections of those involved in bringing peace to Northern Ireland.

The event was hosted by Baroness Blood on behalf of the Peace ProcesS: Layers of Meaning project. The reception brought together more than 50 representatives of the London-Irish community, past and present MPs and Peers, diplomats, academics, journalists and key figures in sport, the arts, and religious life.

Many of those who attended played an important role in the peace process, and shared their thoughts on the reach and scope of the project.

Explaining her involvement and support for the project Baroness Blood said:

"What I like about this work is that it attempts to capture the many layers involved in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. There were people working at many different levels. It was not confined to formal politics: there were many people at community level, whose contribution must be recorded."

The former speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lord Alderdice, commented:

"I am very strongly supportive of the idea of capturing these memories while people are still around - not just how people lived through the trauma of the Troubles, but also what made a peace process possible. There are many people throughout the world who can tell us how they managed to live through conflict, but there are very few places that have the same experience of finding their way to a resolution through a peace process. That is the value of a project like thiS."

Project Director Professor Se�n McConville said:

"It is important to recognise that there is more than one version of history. Today we gather in the House of Lords but this project involves people across every strata of society. This is urgent and important work because many of these witnesses are old and frail. It would be a major loss to our heritage if their voices were not to be heard."

We were greatly encouraged by the messages of support conveyed and extend our warmest thanks to Baroness Blood for kindly hosting the event.