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N. Ireland rivals bury the hatchet

Catholics and Protestants agree on a power-sharing government.

By Washington Post
Published March 27, 2007

BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland's Catholics and Protestants agreed to a power-sharing local government Monday after a deal was struck by two political leaders who had bitterly denounced each other for decades but had never held a conversation.

The new provincial government will begin May 8 under terms agreed to by the Rev. Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, the province's largest Protestant party, and Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Fein, the largest Catholic party.

Sitting in an ornate dining room in Stormont, Northern Ireland's palatial Parliament building, the two rivals pledged cooperation in governance of a province where their followers engaged in a three-decade war that claimed more than 3,600 lives.

"After a long and difficult time in our province, I believe that enormous opportunities lie ahead," said Paisley, 80, a minister known as "Dr. No" for his many years of often vitriolic denunciation of Catholics, particularly Adams. "I am committed to delivering."

Adams, whose party is closely affiliated with the Irish Republican Army, said the agreement represented "the beginning of a new era of politics" and cooperation between rivals in the province: "It is a time for generosity, a time to be mindful of the common good and of the future of all our people."

At the end of their remarks, Adams looked toward Paisley as if he wanted to shake hands. Paisley looked down and shuffled his papers.

The agreement was hailed as a breakthrough. The British government had given the province's political parties until Monday to agree to a power-sharing government or have direct rule imposed from London indefinitely.

Prime Minister Tony Blair called it "a very important day for the people of Northern Ireland, but also for the people and the history of these islands."

Referring to the decade since the landmark 1998 Good Friday accords, which called for a local government jointly run by Protestants and Catholics, Blair said, "Everything we have done over the last 10 years has been a preparation for this moment."

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who has worked closely with Blair and the Northern Ireland political parties, said Monday's agreement had "the potential to transform the future of this island."

British officials said legislation would be introduced in the British Parliament to authorize the May 8 return of the 108-member assembly, which will be headed by Paisley as first minister and Sinn Fein's second-in-command, Martin McGuinness, as deputy first minister.

Analysts cautioned that creating a new assembly would not erase deep sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland, which date back centuries. Ancient rivalries are still on display daily in the province, where "nationalist" or "republican" Catholics favor reunification with what is now the Republic of Ireland and "unionist" or "loyalist" Protestants remain fiercely loyal to the British crown.

"It's like the emperor's new clothes: People are pretending to see something that isn't there," said Peter Shirlow, a professor at Queen's University in Belfast who specializes in conflict resolution.

He said 70 percent of the population still lives in almost exclusively Protestant or Catholic communities, and 90 percent of children attend schools dominated by one religion. He said nearly two-thirds of people between 14 and 24 have never had a substantial conversation with someone of the other religion.

[Last modified March 27, 2007, 01:38:06]