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Myth and counter-myth are being spun already in Iraq: history for the past century is rewritten in Northern Ireland from day to day, with special reference to the past five years. Versions of the truth will clash with a vengeance next week, to mark the fifth anniversary of the agreement concluded at Stormont on April 10th, 1998.

Some would say Ireland is sodden with history. But in the part of the island where discordant memory sounds most harshly, it seems few are taught history, fewer read it, while considerable numbers write rough drafts with the maximum distortion.