It's one thing to face up to the truth, but quite another to accept reconciliation after a time of great suffering. That, at least, has been the experience in Northern Ireland after decades of conflict, says Irish conflict mediator Joe Campbell, now working in Nepal.

"A TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) can help with some answers, but in Ireland we want to wait until time is right," Campbell says. "Reconciliation is our biggest challenge and by far the hardest thing."

Could it be any different in Nepal?

Campbell, who arrived in the country last year to work with the United Mission to Nepal as conflict transformation advisor, is surprised at the speed of the peace process and the readiness of Nepalis to start talking about a TRC already.

He points out that in Northern Ireland it took more than a decade of political negotiation to reach a peace settlement, and the proposed truth commission is yet to get off the ground.

"There was so much violence that the pain is so real even now," he says. He expects Nepalis to feel the same, given the violence, torture and death that so many have been exposed to in the past decade, whether at the hands of the Maoists or of government forces.

Each violent incident in Nepal today reminds him of his own country's anxious times during the 1994-1998 ceasefire period, when it was difficult to control the splinter groups who operated in defiance of the central leadership. Here there are similarities for Nepal.

"There are so many parallels between Nepal and Ireland where civil wars have been easy to start but take a long journey to bring to a peaceful end," Campbell says.

He believes peace in Nepal will happen only when Nepali citizens want it and not at the behest of the bandwagon of so-called foreign conflict resolution experts.

But there is no doubt in his mind that those who have committed terrible crimes must be brought to justice. Many in Northern Ireland have already served long terms of imprisonment and he believes justice should not be delayed while everyone waits for a TRC to be established.

In Ireland it is more a case of remember and change, rather than forgive and forget, says Campbell, who was awarded an MBE for his mediation efforts, most prominently at a potentially explosive stand-off between Protestants and Catholics at Drumcree in 1995, where he and his colleague Brendan McAllister negotiated a peaceful settlement.

Naresh Newar