“IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
Dickens’ famous opening lines to his Tale of Two Cities could easily describe 2011.
At our patriotic best, the country has witnessed a sea of waving flags for the Royal Wedding, our fallen heroes from Afghanistan repatriated with honour and dignity and a national spring clean, not seen since the Great Exhibition, as we gear up for the Olympics.
The other end of the scale brought shame on our country.
Rioters and looters destroyed homes and businesses in a senseless orgy of destruction.
Further afield, things were just as extreme.
Earthquakes in New Zealand and Turkey.
A terrible tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan.
Floods in Pakistan and famine in the horn of Africa.
Even the fight for democracy during the so-called Arab Spring in countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Syria is in danger of being extinguished as more repressive elements come to the fore.
However, it wasn’t all bad news.
Countless thousands of Libyans in Benghazi were saved from potential slaughter when Nato planes took to the skies to enforce a no-fly zone.
The ensuing civil war saw the demise of Gaddafi and his hated regime.
In Iraq, American troops left for good, after nine long years of war.
And the world’s most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden, died as he lived, by the sword.
Meanwhile, a global financial crisis continues to threaten, with no one being able to predict where it will lead.
The eurozone struggles on as I write, but its future is by no means assured.
If I can make one prediction for 2012, it is that events will reshape the EU further.
Let’s hope all politicians put country before career, integrity before corruption and hope before a failed experiment.
In the end, it’s about democracy and freedom.
A happy New Year to you all.