The Christian meaning of Christmas speaks of love, joy, peace - and hope. Despite the growing secularism which surrounds us and the devastation of so much of life in this world the Christian still grasps the central message of the birth of the Christ-child in the stable at Bethlehem. That message has not lost its ancient meaning.

This Christmas the people of Ireland have much to be thankful for - but much to ponder. On the one side there is wealth and prosperity - on the other need and deprivation. We have long been regarded as a compassionate and caring people and the ways we have responded to appeals for the needy of the world speak loudly of a generous spirit. But the casualities of our society cry out for justice and help. The homeless, the unwanted, those who are prisoners of long-term poverty and those who continue to live with the burden of believing that the suffering of the past has not been addressed or recognised as society moves on.

Politically Northern Ireland has come so far and yet has stopped short of what so many had hoped for. That hope must take us all into 2005 and we pray for courage by all involved to take those final steps to bring stable, open and democratic government to the Province. We must never, never slip back into the darkness of the past and political structures which will provide stable government for all the people of Northern Ireland must surely be within our grasp in 2005. Let the hopes be for shared responsibilities more than merely shared power...

Within our society there is much anxiety among our most vulnerable members - the elderly and those who live alone. Attacks on people in their own homes have shocked us all. May 2005 see greater protection for those who live in fear.

But the greatest need for the whole of our society this Christmas is to see a community-wide and determined effort to remove from our midst the scourge and dark stain of sectarianism and now the evil of racial attacks. The birth of Christ speaks of a love for all of human-kind irrespective of class, creed or colour. Sectarianism because of religion or political identity has no place in the Stable of Bethlehem. We have got to move away from words, attitudes or actions which judge a person because of their creed or colour. The only identity which should matter in Northern Ireland as we greet a new year is the worth of a person made in the image of God.

So it is with hope that we must once more greet the birth of Christ, the Saviour of the world. It is with a determination to see hope realised throughout Ireland that we must move into 2005.