They're playing your song, Mandy

Barry Manilow was not among the attendance when Peter Mandelson launched a song promoting peace and reconciliation in Ireland yesterday. But the words the singer immortalised were floating on the breeze at Dublin's Charlotte Quay Dock, where the ceremony took place.

Oh Mandy!/When you came and you gave without taking/But I sent you away/Oh Mandy!/When you kissed me and stopped me from shaking/And I need you today/Oh Mandy!

Clearly hardened by his recent experience in the North, however, Mr Mandelson was stressing the need for giving and taking in any new attempt to clear the obstacle of decommissioning. But he wasn't here to talk politics. He had a song to launch, and he just wanted to thank those who had recorded it "for not giving up".

The Northern Secretary didn't volunteer to sing the song, and, after we'd seen a video performance of the work, sponsored by the EU Peace Programme, we understood why. It incorporates the voices of 800 people and includes a mix of styles. And to put it mildly, We Believe is not a song to be trifled with.

The video opens with a strong 1960s flavour, a group of people with beautiful hair and a guitar sitting under a tree singing about peace. Then it cuts to a period scene set in the gardens of Carton House, Maynooth, with a pair of tenors regaling the ladies over tea; and before you can say "Eclectic Ballroom", it works up to a crashing climax of massed choirs, followed by the bells of Christ Church and crowds cheering.

The writer and producer of the piece, Willie Hughes, spoke of its spirit of optimism and the belief that, for Ireland, the best was yet to come. He also talked of the difficulties presented by language, citing the well-known examples of "Derry/Londonderry" or "the mainland/Britain".

Mr Mandelson (Mandy) may have thought the point was unintentionally underlined in the video itself, which included a recorded message from the Tibetan government-in-exile welcoming the idea of the people in Ireland "getting reunited". This is exactly what the DUP fears is happening; but the song stresses the message of apolitical unity, invoking the achievements of the Irish rugby team as an example to all.

Joe Dolan was not one of the 800 singers on We Believe, but the Mullingar man did get to meet Mr Mandelson yesterday. After an apparently spontaneous - a first for Tony Blair's government - walkabout in Grafton Street, the Northern Secretary proceeded to the Merrion Hotel to pick up a £20,000 cheque on behalf of Co-Operation Ireland, money raised by the Joe Dolan Golf Classic.

Mr Dolan didn't sing, and Mr Mandelson didn't offer to take part in next year's classic. Indeed, he implied that while he would "do anything for peace", this didn't include playing golf in public. However, in the spirit of give and take, about which he spoke yesterday, he may yet soften this position.