Nickdfresh
03-26-2007, 06:54 PM
N.Ireland's Parties Seal Power-Sharing Deal
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600343.html) Foreign Service
Monday, March 26, 2007; 3:58 PM
BELFAST, March 26 -- Northern Ireland's Catholics and Protestants agreed to a power-sharing local government Monday, following a deal struck by two political leaders who had bitterly denounced each other for decades but never held a conversation.
The new provincial government will begin on 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 side by side in an ornate dining room in Stormont, Northern Ireland's palatial parliament building, the two fierce 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 Protestant minister known as "Dr. No" for his many years of often vitriolic denunciation of Catholics, and Adams personally. "I am committed to delivering for not only those who voted for the DUP, but for all the people of Northern Ireland."
Sitting at Paisley's elbow, 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."
The agreement was hailed as a historic breakthrough in the Northern Ireland's tortured history of sectarian struggle. 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. While Sinn Fein had agreed to meet the deadline, the Democratic Unionist Party's leadership announced Saturday that it wanted a six-week delay. British officials said they would grant the extension only if all parties agreed to it, which they did Monday.
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 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 ten 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.
Creating a power-sharing local assembly was a cornerstone of the Good Friday accords, which set out a blueprint for lasting peace after a 1997 ceasefire ended three decades of sectarian violence known as "the Troubles." The first assembly created under the accords collapsed in October 2002 in partisan acrimony. The assembly reconvened in May 2006, but until Monday, the province's political parties were unable to agree on a power-sharing plan.
Analysts here 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. Shirlow, who has studied the province's divisions extensively, said that while peace has brought prosperity and new willingness to govern together, Northern Ireland remains deeply segregated.
He said 70 percent of the population still lives in communities that are almost exclusively Protestant or Catholic, and 90 percent of children study in 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 and mixed marriages remain extremely uncommon.
"We are living together in isolation, purposefully apart," said Shirlow, who said that Paisley and Adams have agreed to govern together but rarely discuss serious efforts to integrate neighborhoods and schools.
"Today's agreement is about arrangements between antagonists, not about bringing all the people together," Shirlow said. "They were intertwined in violence, now they are intertwined in leadership. They need each other."
While Monday's announcement affected everything from water rates to hospitals to pot-hole repair, it was the sight of Paisley and Adams sitting together that left most people here dumbstruck. Over the years Paisley has called Adams a "terrorist" and referred to Pope John Paul II as the "antichrist," while Catholics have publicly accused Paisley of inciting violence against them.
"Today the clouds have lifted and the people can see the future. Those pictures of Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams will resonate around the world," said Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, the top British government official in the province. "If after the last forty years or more they can talk, anything and everything is possible for Northern Ireland."
The joint public appearance by Paisley and Adams lasted less than 20 minutes, but it was filled with signs of the subtlety of the tribal divisions between people here.
Paisley opened with his commitment to improving the lives of "people in this part of the United Kingdom," a construction that underscored loyalist insistence on referring to the province as part of the United Kingdom. He pledged to have "regular meetings" with McGuinness in the weeks between now and May 8, and he said he and Adams had agreed to press the British government for the best possible economic assistance package for the province.
Many Catholics here have said they have sensed a softening in Paisley's hard line in recent months. Many said they believed Paisley was ready to start governing with Sinn Fein as of Monday but that he had failed to persuade more extreme elements in his party. On Monday, Paisley sounded both stern and willing to compromise.
"We must not allow our justified loathing for the horrors and atrocities of the past to become a barrier to creating a better and more stable future for our children," Paisley said in his booming baritone. "As we look to that future, we must never forget those who suffered during the dark period from which we are, please God, now emerging."
Adams, who is reputed to be a former IRA commander, stressed his commitment to "the people of Ireland" and the "people of this island," his phrasing reflecting the view of Northern Ireland as rightly a part of the divided island of Ireland. He dotted his speech with sentences in Gaelic, the Irish language that British governments of the past outlawed. On his lapel he wore a lily to commemorate those who died in the 1916 Irish rebellion against British rule.
He said Monday's agreement "created the potential to build a new, harmonious and equitable relationship between nationalists and republicans and unionists, and all of the rest of the people of the island of Ireland."
Adams and Paisley didn't speak to each other while the cameras were rolling. At the end of their remarks, Adams looked toward Paisley as if he wanted to shake hands. Paisley looked down and shuffled his papers.
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600343.html) Foreign Service
Monday, March 26, 2007; 3:58 PM
BELFAST, March 26 -- Northern Ireland's Catholics and Protestants agreed to a power-sharing local government Monday, following a deal struck by two political leaders who had bitterly denounced each other for decades but never held a conversation.
The new provincial government will begin on 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 side by side in an ornate dining room in Stormont, Northern Ireland's palatial parliament building, the two fierce 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 Protestant minister known as "Dr. No" for his many years of often vitriolic denunciation of Catholics, and Adams personally. "I am committed to delivering for not only those who voted for the DUP, but for all the people of Northern Ireland."
Sitting at Paisley's elbow, 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."
The agreement was hailed as a historic breakthrough in the Northern Ireland's tortured history of sectarian struggle. 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. While Sinn Fein had agreed to meet the deadline, the Democratic Unionist Party's leadership announced Saturday that it wanted a six-week delay. British officials said they would grant the extension only if all parties agreed to it, which they did Monday.
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 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 ten 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.
Creating a power-sharing local assembly was a cornerstone of the Good Friday accords, which set out a blueprint for lasting peace after a 1997 ceasefire ended three decades of sectarian violence known as "the Troubles." The first assembly created under the accords collapsed in October 2002 in partisan acrimony. The assembly reconvened in May 2006, but until Monday, the province's political parties were unable to agree on a power-sharing plan.
Analysts here 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. Shirlow, who has studied the province's divisions extensively, said that while peace has brought prosperity and new willingness to govern together, Northern Ireland remains deeply segregated.
He said 70 percent of the population still lives in communities that are almost exclusively Protestant or Catholic, and 90 percent of children study in 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 and mixed marriages remain extremely uncommon.
"We are living together in isolation, purposefully apart," said Shirlow, who said that Paisley and Adams have agreed to govern together but rarely discuss serious efforts to integrate neighborhoods and schools.
"Today's agreement is about arrangements between antagonists, not about bringing all the people together," Shirlow said. "They were intertwined in violence, now they are intertwined in leadership. They need each other."
While Monday's announcement affected everything from water rates to hospitals to pot-hole repair, it was the sight of Paisley and Adams sitting together that left most people here dumbstruck. Over the years Paisley has called Adams a "terrorist" and referred to Pope John Paul II as the "antichrist," while Catholics have publicly accused Paisley of inciting violence against them.
"Today the clouds have lifted and the people can see the future. Those pictures of Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams will resonate around the world," said Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, the top British government official in the province. "If after the last forty years or more they can talk, anything and everything is possible for Northern Ireland."
The joint public appearance by Paisley and Adams lasted less than 20 minutes, but it was filled with signs of the subtlety of the tribal divisions between people here.
Paisley opened with his commitment to improving the lives of "people in this part of the United Kingdom," a construction that underscored loyalist insistence on referring to the province as part of the United Kingdom. He pledged to have "regular meetings" with McGuinness in the weeks between now and May 8, and he said he and Adams had agreed to press the British government for the best possible economic assistance package for the province.
Many Catholics here have said they have sensed a softening in Paisley's hard line in recent months. Many said they believed Paisley was ready to start governing with Sinn Fein as of Monday but that he had failed to persuade more extreme elements in his party. On Monday, Paisley sounded both stern and willing to compromise.
"We must not allow our justified loathing for the horrors and atrocities of the past to become a barrier to creating a better and more stable future for our children," Paisley said in his booming baritone. "As we look to that future, we must never forget those who suffered during the dark period from which we are, please God, now emerging."
Adams, who is reputed to be a former IRA commander, stressed his commitment to "the people of Ireland" and the "people of this island," his phrasing reflecting the view of Northern Ireland as rightly a part of the divided island of Ireland. He dotted his speech with sentences in Gaelic, the Irish language that British governments of the past outlawed. On his lapel he wore a lily to commemorate those who died in the 1916 Irish rebellion against British rule.
He said Monday's agreement "created the potential to build a new, harmonious and equitable relationship between nationalists and republicans and unionists, and all of the rest of the people of the island of Ireland."
Adams and Paisley didn't speak to each other while the cameras were rolling. At the end of their remarks, Adams looked toward Paisley as if he wanted to shake hands. Paisley looked down and shuffled his papers.