sun
03-26-2007, 10:22 PM
It happened today...Two forces that have been fighting for a long time.
Decided to cut a deal, and stop. It is good news. It is a sign of hope.
Here it is: From the New York Times. 3/26/07
BELFAST, Northern Ireland, March 26 — After years of mutual hostility and recrimination, the leaders of Northern Ireland’s dominant rival groups, Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and the Protestant leader, the Rev. Ian Paisley, met today for their first face-to-face talks and agreed to form a joint administration for the province on May 8.
Skip to next paragraph (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/world/europe/26cnd-ireland.html?hp#secondParagraph) http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/03/26/world/europe/26ireland.190.jpg Pool photo by Paul Faith
Ian Paisley, left, and Gerry Adams announced the breakthrough while sitting side by side, a first, in the Stormont Parliament building in Belfast.
Multimedia
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/multimedia/icons/audio_icon.gif Back Story With Eamon Quinn
The deal was hailed by Britain and Ireland as a historic breakthrough, more than four years after Northern Ireland’s local government was suspended in October, 2002, after a dispute over espionage activities by the Irish Republican Army.
“The word ‘historic’ has to be used,” said Brian Feeny, a historian at St. Mary’s University College in Belfast, “It was the only way it was ever going to work. The two leaders of the two traditions had to do the deal.”
If implemented, the agreement means Britain will formally hand back responsibility for running many of Northern Ireland’s internal affairs to an administration composed of Protestants and Catholics, with Mr. Paisley, the leader of the biggest party in the province, as First Minister and Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator, as his deputy. Other smaller parties will also have seats in the government proportionate to their electoral showing.
Decided to cut a deal, and stop. It is good news. It is a sign of hope.
Here it is: From the New York Times. 3/26/07
BELFAST, Northern Ireland, March 26 — After years of mutual hostility and recrimination, the leaders of Northern Ireland’s dominant rival groups, Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and the Protestant leader, the Rev. Ian Paisley, met today for their first face-to-face talks and agreed to form a joint administration for the province on May 8.
Skip to next paragraph (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/world/europe/26cnd-ireland.html?hp#secondParagraph) http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/03/26/world/europe/26ireland.190.jpg Pool photo by Paul Faith
Ian Paisley, left, and Gerry Adams announced the breakthrough while sitting side by side, a first, in the Stormont Parliament building in Belfast.
Multimedia
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/multimedia/icons/audio_icon.gif Back Story With Eamon Quinn
The deal was hailed by Britain and Ireland as a historic breakthrough, more than four years after Northern Ireland’s local government was suspended in October, 2002, after a dispute over espionage activities by the Irish Republican Army.
“The word ‘historic’ has to be used,” said Brian Feeny, a historian at St. Mary’s University College in Belfast, “It was the only way it was ever going to work. The two leaders of the two traditions had to do the deal.”
If implemented, the agreement means Britain will formally hand back responsibility for running many of Northern Ireland’s internal affairs to an administration composed of Protestants and Catholics, with Mr. Paisley, the leader of the biggest party in the province, as First Minister and Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator, as his deputy. Other smaller parties will also have seats in the government proportionate to their electoral showing.