Mridan » Travelogue Entry » Smiles where there once was hatred

Smiles where there once was hatred

IT WAS the most unlikely of tea parties: a former senior IRA man sharing a cuppa with a unionist firebrand, both of whom have been jailed for fanning the flames of sectarianism.

Fresh from being sworn in as the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness marked their new partnership with tea, sharing it with men who would have once been deemed their respective oppressors, Bertie Ahern, the Irish Taoiseach, and Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister.

From implacable foes to Cabinet colleagues, they cast aside their decades-long feud at the swearing-in ceremony that marked the historic resumption of Northern Ireland’s parliament yesterday.

Mr McGuinness had said he believed the event was one of making “history, not hype”.

In scenes that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, the men appeared relaxed, as Mr Paisley joked: “I wonder why people hate me, as I’m such a nice man.”

Turning to Mr Blair, he said: “When you’re going out as a young man, I’m coming in as an old grandad.”

Mr Blair replied: “I should have learned a lesson from you and kept going until I was 80.”

The genteel atmosphere on the sofa, in the First Minister’s wood-panelled office at the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont, was far removed from six years ago, after the election of David Trimble, the then Ulster Unionist leader and Mark Durkan of the SDLP, when fists flew in the Great Hall, leading to the occasion being dubbed the Brawl in the Hall.

The power-sharing deal means that figures on opposite sides of the political and religious divide will now share a Cabinet, a government and an electorate.

Mr Paisley, who was jailed for leading anti-Catholic marches, summed up his feelings about sharing government with Mr McGuiness, a former senior figure in the IRA. In sentiments shared by many at the opening ceremony, he said: “If anyone had told me that I would be standing here today to take this office, I would have been totally unbelieving.”

The move also gives a peg on which the outgoing Tony Blair can hang his legacy.

He is expected to announce his retirement this week, probably tomorrow after a meeting of the Cabinet.

Addressing the assembly for what is expected to be his last visit to Northern Ireland as Prime Minister, Mr Blair said: “Look back and we see centuries pockmarked by conflict, hardship, even hatred among the people of these islands.

“Look forward and we can see the chance at last to escape the heavy chains of that history to make history anew, not as a struggle between warring traditions but as a search for a future shared, held in common by peace.”

Mr McGuinness had earlier quipped that Northern Ireland was now more stable than the Labour Party.

Ahead of the ceremony, protesters scuffled with police outside Stormont, only slightly marring the euphoric mood inside.

But it was not born out of loyalist or republican grudges - the protest was organised against the Iraq war and was targeted at Mr Blair, highlighting both his perceived greatest achievement and his most controversial decision.

DURING his formal speech later, the new First Minister took a swipe at those wanting to take credit for the peace process.

In remarks clearly levelled at Mr Blair and Mr Ahern, his Irish counterpart, Mr Paisley said:

“If those same people had only allowed the Ulster people to settle the matter without their interference and insistence upon their way and their way alone, we would all have come to this day a lot earlier.”

Mr Paisley and Mr McGuinness were appointed without applause after a request by the new Speaker for a mark of respect for the late George Dawson, who was the Democratic Unionist Party’s MLA for East Antrim and died yesterday.

The Democratic Unionists will head four of the ministries while Sinn Fein will control three.

Watching from the public gallery was Edward Kennedy, the veteran US senator, and John Reid, the former Northern Ireland secretary.

Peter Hain, his successor in the post, hailed the “chemistry” between the new First Minister and his deputy.

The rainbow coalition means there is now no opposition party in Northern Ireland. And regardless of the best wishes of the coalition, the biggest rows will be within the government - arguably the mark of any mature democracy. Paisley’s speech

HOW true are the words of Holy Scripture, ‘We know not what a day may bring forth’. If anyone had told me that I would be standing here today to take this office, I would have been totally unbelieving.

I am here by the vote of the majority of the electorate of our beloved province.

Today, at long last, we are starting upon the road - I emphasise starting - which I believe will take us to lasting peace in our province.

I have not changed my unionism, the union of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, which I believe is today stronger than ever.

We are making this declaration: we are all aiming to build a Northern Ireland in which all can live together in peace, being equal under the law and equally subject to the law.

I welcome the pledge we have all taken to that effect today. That is the rock foundation upon which we must build.

Today, we salute Ulster’s honoured and unageing dead - the innocent victims, that gallant band, members of both religions, Protestant and Roman Catholic, strong in their allegiance to their differing political beliefs, unionist and nationalist, male and female, children and adults, all innocent victims of the terrible conflict. In the shadows of the evenings and in the sunrise of the mornings, we hail their gallantry and heroism. It cannot and will not be erased from our memories.

Nor can we forget those who continue to bear the scars of suffering and whose bodies have been robbed of sight, robbed of hearing, robbed of limbs. Yes, and we must all shed the silent and bitter tear for those whose loved ones’ bodies have not yet been returned.

In politics, as in life, it is a truism that no-one can ever have 100 per cent of what they desire. They must make a verdict when they believe they have achieved enough to move things forward. Unlike at any other time, I believe we are now able to make progress.

I believe that 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 our province. Today, we have begun to plant and we await the harvest. McGuinness’s speech

I AM proud to stand here today as an Irish Republican who believes absolutely in a united Ireland. I too wish to welcome the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and all our friends from around the world.

Many people in this hall today played an important part in our peace process. Many others could not be with us today. I want to send our warmest thanks to them.

We will continue to rely on that support as we strive towards a society moving from division and disharmony to one which celebrates our diversity and is determined to provide a better future for all our people. One which cherishes the elderly, the vulnerable, the young, all of our children equally…

As joint heads of the Executive, the First Minister and I pledge to do all in our power to ensure it makes a real difference to the lives of all our people by harnessing their skills through a first-rate education system, caring for our sick in the best health service we can provide and building our economy through encouraging investment.

We know that this will not be easy and the road we are embarking on will have many twists and turns. It is, however, a road which we have chosen and which is supported by the vast majority of our people…

As for Ian Paisley, I want to wish you all the best as we step forward towards the greatest, yet most exciting challenge of our lives.

Ireland’s greatest living poet, a fellow Derryman, Seamus Heaney, once told a gathering that I attended at Magee University that for too long and too often we speak of the others or the other side, and that what we need to do is to get to a place of ‘through otherness’.

The office of the First and Deputy First Ministers is a good place to start. This will only work if we collectively accept the wisdom and importance of Seamus Heaney’s words.

Since 26 March, much work has been done which has confounded critics and astounded the sceptics … We must overcome the difficulties we face in order to achieve our goals and seize the opportunities. Future generations expect and deserve no less from us.