Despite some high points, few people tonight will be sorry when the clock chimes midnight and 2009 is consigned to the history books. It has been, in diplomatic terms, a difficult year. In honest language, it has been fairly miserable.

That's not to say that there have not been some positive moments, most notably, at home, the celebrations of Bermuda's 400th anniversary of human settlement, and abroad, the inauguration of Barack Obama as the President of the United States.

Still, even these moments have their disappointments. The hope that the 400th anniversary would give people a chance to reflect on how far Bermuda has come and where it wants to go has not entirely borne fruit, while both in the US and Bermuda, the hope that President Obama's unifying message would bring people together for the common good has deteriorated to the usual political bickering.

More broadly, Bermuda has rarely encountered a grimmer economic situation than the one that erupted after the October, 2008 market crash and the ensuing recession.

Bermuda has seen tourism struggle heavily while international business has survived but cannot be said to be growing. In the meantime, there is stark evidence that the construction boom that fuelled Bermuda's domestic growth over the last decade is turning to bust and the Island will feel the full effects of that in the first half of 2010.

At times like these, it would be normal for Government to inject funds into infrastructure projects but the deterioration in public finances makes this unlikely. Bermuda signally failed to put something away for a rainy day and is now getting a soaking.

Politically, the Island has seen a year of turmoil. The uproar of the Uighurs followed by the rejection of the cruise ship gambling bill made Premier Dr. Ewart Brown's position look tenuous and he has now promised to step down in October, 2010.

The Opposition might have been expected to capitalise on that, but instead imploded and the Island now goes into the New Year with three parties. Which ones survive and thrive will be one of the major stories of next year. All of that has been overshadowed by the explosion in gun crime and gang violence at the end of this year. Despite a fragile calm now, no one should believe that the violence or its causes will go away and this must be the absolute priority of the Island's leaders in the months to come.

But there should be no mistake made. Setting the economy back on its feet must go hand in hand with that, because the frustration will only increase if the economic situation worsens. At the same time, the violence must be a clarion call to, once and for all, set Bermuda's education system on the right track and to convince Bermuda's young people that, armed with a credible education, they have a bright future on this Island.

It is no accident that, for the most part the victims and those responsible for violent crime have been black. Bermuda remains divided by race and the wealth gap – despite notable exceptions – must still be bridged.

Nonetheless, Bermudians must refuse to be cowed by the challenges that confront this community. More unites us than divides us and together, it will be possible to work through these obstacles. With honesty, tolerance and a recognition that we are our brother's keeper, Bermuda can look forward to a better future than the past we leave behind.

We wish all our readers a happy, safe and prosperous new year.