Rival N. Irish factions enter power-sharing era

BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Protestant firebrand Ian Paisley and IRA veteran Martin McGuinness formed a long-unthinkable alliance Tuesday as Northern Ireland power-sharing went from dream to reality — and all sides expressed hope that bloodshed over this British territory would never return.

Paisley, who spent decades refusing to cooperate with Northern Ireland’s Catholic minority, conceded he had often refused to budge in years past but was ready now. He lauded the Irish Republican Army’s moves to renounce violence and disarm, and Sinn Fein’s decision to cooperate with the province’s mostly Protestant police as genuine.

“From the depths of my heart, I believe Northern Ireland has come to a time of peace, a time when hate will no longer rule. How good it will be to be part of a wonderful healing in this province,” Paisley said.

Tuesday’s speedy, trouble-free formation of a 12-member administration jointly led by Paisley and McGuinness heralded an astonishing new era for Northern Ireland following decades of violence and political stalemate that left 3,700 dead.

Paisley, 81, affirmed an oath pledging to cooperate with Catholics and the government of the neighboring Republic of Ireland — moves that the fire-and-brimstone evangelist had long denounced as surrender.

Support for police
Sinn Fein deputy leader McGuinness, 56, accepted the post of deputy first minister, which despite its title carries the same power as Paisley’s post of first minister.

As part of the same oath of office, McGuinness pledged to support the police and British courts — a position Sinn Fein refused for decades to accept.

Paisley’s Democratic Unionists took five Cabinet positions, Sinn Fein four, while the moderate Protestants of the Ulster Unionists received two and the moderate Catholics of the Social Democratic and Labour Party just one. Positions were allocated on the basis of each party’s strength in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Afterward, assembly members from all parties mingled with a jubilant crowd of dignitaries and well-wishers in the grand foyer of Stormont Parliamentary Building.

The Bush administration was represented by its newly appointed envoy for Northern Ireland affairs, State Department official Paul Dobriansky.

Video Clashes in Belfast May 8: Protesters clash with police in Northern Ireland as a new-power sharing government takes office. MSNBC.com's Dara Brown has the details. msnbc.com

Much more attention was paid to two Kennedys: Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and his sister, former Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith. She mingled in the crowd alongside Sinn Fein chief Gerry Adams — whose international isolation ended in 1994 when she persuaded then-President Clinton to grant him a U.S. visa, defying British policy at the time.

“This is an extraordinary example that Northern Ireland is showing to the world, that you can disband militias and private armies, and put away the bomb and bullet,” the senator said, referring to the IRA’s 2005 decisions to renounce violence and disarm.

'Astounded the skeptics'
The audience was treated to exceptionally conciliatory speeches by Paisley and McGuinness as well as the British and Irish prime ministers, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, whose close cooperation since 1997 has underpinned the entire peace process.

McGuinness said they had “astounded the skeptics” and gestured to his new government partner, Paisley. “I want to wish you the best as we step forward into the greatest and most exciting challenge of our lives,” he said.

MORE FROM EUROPE

Europe Section Front

Brokaw: The night the wall came down Germany marks fall of Berlin Wall NYT: Legacy of ’89 is still up for debate Swiss: Pair detained in Libya delivered to embassy Queen leads Britain's ceremony for war dead Wig-wearing mob fugitive nabbed in Italy Fair targets France’s 260,000 annual divorces Clinton: Berlin Wall festivities not just a party How NBC got its ’89 Berlin Wall scoop Europe Section Front   Add Europe headlines to your news reader: