I have to confess I have a bit of a soft spot for the queen. Her visit to Ireland was an important step in the peace process.
If only the country she reigns over were more like her, we would be in a much better place.
Whether or not you believe hereditary monarchy is the way to choose a head of state, it would have been churlish in the extreme not to wish her well on reaching her platinum jubilee.
First Minister designate Michelle O’Neill did the right thing sending a generous message of congratulations. Not only did it show that she understands her role bestows additional responsibilities; but it was also an indication that we are making progress on the path to reconciliation (slow though that might be).
A gesture – this time from the unionist side – also helped feed the optimist in me when the former mayor of Derry and Strabane District Council marked the end of his term in office with a call for a new politics.
It is tempting to see Graham Warke’s departure from the DUP as another blow to its credibility; but party knock-about is trifling compared to his central message that if we are to build a better place for all, that can be best done by working together.
It is a pity he did not feel he could do that by staying within the DUP. The DUP must be part of the solution here, rather than remaining part of the problem – but as a party it has yet to appreciate that.
Sammy Wilson, commenting on Warke’s resignation, said: “I’ve never spoken to him.” That’s a pity, he might have learned something.
By all accounts, Warke did a sterling job as mayor. It is an important role and – at its best - it’s a role which can enhance community cohesion.
It’s worth listening to what Warke had to say: “I firmly believe that if Derry-Londonderry Strabane is to prosper then it can only do so if we all work together… If we are to succeed in bringing prosperity, jobs and investment here then we need all our politicians to come together.”
Substitute the council area for Northern Ireland and you have a manifesto for the future of this place.
In coming to his decision, Warke said he had talked to grassroots voters – and the message they were giving him was that “a moderate, progressive and positive political pathway is best for me and for this city and district”.
Amid all the noise – the brutality and abuse on social media, the whipped-up confrontations on radio, the lies and deceit in political speeches – there is a shift on the ground.
We saw it in the assembly election, we saw it in O’Neill’s letter to the queen, and we see it again in Warke’s courageous decision to walk another path.
Like many in the media, my focus is often too much on short term ‘events’ that drive the news: Boris Johnson’s famous ‘dead cats’, thrown on the table to distract attention from things that are really important.
Sometimes focusing on the glass that is half full, rather than the one that is permanently half empty, can bring rewards.
And I suppose the weekend just past, with its Ruritanian Trooping the Colour, sombre service of thanksgiving, and somewhat over the top concert and pageant, was one of those glass half full moments for a country in the midst of political scandal and economic meltdown.
There is no doubt that here, many of our fellow countrymen and women have a deep affection for the queen and what she represents. That should not only be respected, but valued.
It was shocking then that the jubilee weekend was dishonoured by the very people who claim supremacy in her name.
I did not have to watch the video, filmed in Dundonald Orange Hall, glorifying the brutal murder of Michaela McAreavey to know what it represented.
Although the gross sectarianism and misogyny was shocking, it was not surprising. It’s part of a pattern.
Michaela’s family have been deeply wronged. And many mainstream unionist leaders called the video out for what it was. But for too long, the hatemongers have been given the benefit of the doubt by politicians who walk alongside them, and court their support.
It would be better for us all if we turned our backs on the extremists, and chose the pathway Graham Warke has uncovered. I’m sure that would be a way of marking the jubilee her majesty would welcome.
