Depending on which side you're on in Northern Ireland, you're either shocked, surprised or pleased by Martin McGuinness's appointment as Minister for Education. For many people, he's loomed large as one of Northern Ireland's greatest hate figures over two decades. Suddenly, though, he's respectable and a minister to boot.
However, his elevation is less controversial than his portfolio - in some quarters at least. "A lot of unionists have objected to his appointment," confirms a Belfast member of the Church of Ireland. "If it had been Bairbre de Brun, they would have been less concerned. She was a teacher and she doesn't have a reputation for involvement in violence."
"Martin McGuinness has an image problem," agrees another Northern Protestant. "In the Protestant community, he's even more of a hate figure than Gerry Adams. DUP people are exploiting this for all they're worth and are setting up schoolchildren to protest.
"There are letters going into schools, purporting to be from McGuinness, telling them that everybody's got to learn Irish. They create an atmosphere of `there's no smoke without fire'."
On television, Martin McGuinness has traditionally appeared as tense, intense, difficult and argumentative. For people who've met him, however, the reality is different. "On the occasions I have met him, I have found him warmer and friendlier than I would have expected, and very intelligent," comments the Northern Protestant. "I've spent several hours in his company and have found that, socially, he is an extremely affable and communicative person," notes a Catholic academic. "He's well able to converse on topics of general interest: I'd describe him as a convivial person."
Martin McGuinness has come a long way since he left the Christian Brothers' technical school in Derry, at the age of 15 to become a butcher's assistant. He was born in 1950 into what is described as a close-knit nationalist family, the second oldest of seven children. He grew up in the Bogside, but unlike many of the children around him, he came from a relatively financially-secure home. His father, now dead, was in constant employment in an iron foundry and his mother worked a shirt factory.
In his free time, McGuinness is a contemplative creature: his favourite pastimes are fly-fishing and reading and writing poetry. He's a bit of a new man, too - friends describe him as an ambitious but good cook who opts to do the grocery shopping in the McGuinness household. He married his wife Bernie in 1974 and is the father of four children, two girls and two boys. Three of these, we're told, are in gainful employment - none of them received a third-level education. The youngest child is still in school.
Although he denies membership of the IRA, he spent a couple of years imprisoned in Portlaoise in the 1970s for precisely that. Sinn Fein, tightlipped about many of McGuinness's personal details, is anxious to stress that he was convicted on the word of a Garda superintendent only.
Despite the fact that he's been a familiar figure in our media for many years, it wasn't until August 1998 that he first condemned a republican paramilitary action - the Omagh bombing. He described the attack as indefensible and said that he was appalled and disgusted by it. For many people on both sides of the Border, McGuinness's journey from putative terrorist to peacemaker has been remarkable. But politics apart, there are concerns about the capabilities of a man who completed his formal education at 15 to direct the education system of Northern Ireland. He himself has admitted he's on a learning curve. Can he hack it?
"It's never been a requirement for departmental ministers to be professionals in their particular fields," comments a Catholic academic. "He has seen exclusion and the consequences of deprivation and limited opportunities for access to education at close hand. He's probably in a very good position to make a contribution to develop mechanisms to improve that situation." "He's a very intelligent man who will bring a robust engagement to his portfolio," says a Northern Protestant. The view is that if unionists are satisfied on the decommissioning issue, McGuinness will be seen as less of a threat. "The evident delight that he showed in his new position tells me that that man really wants to be there and he will deliver on what will be required."
THE NEW MINISTER is taking over a department which has an annual budget of £1.2 billion sterling. He will head up a nursery, primary and second-level education system which caters for more than 350,000 children. Of Northern Ireland's 72 grammar schools, 32 are under Catholic management. At secondary school level - where you go if you fail the 11-plus - 75 are Protestant (controlled), 77 are Catholic and 12 are integrated. There is only one school which teaches through the medium of Irish. McGuinness has repeatedly said he supports parental choice.
All the signs are that McGuinness will be given little time to ease himself into the job. Come the new year, a report on the selective system of education (the 11-plus) in Northern Ireland by a consortium of Northern academics is scheduled to land on his desk. Depending on the findings, and how he reacts, it could develop into a sectarian issue. Any plans to abolish grammar schools and turn them into comprehensives would be hotly contested by the unionist middle classes, in particular. Sinn Fein, however, is adamant that changes are needed; that one's whole life can be determined by a once-off exam is unfair, they argue. In Britain, the 11-plus exam was abolished in the 1970s.
Then, there's the issue of the closure of small rural schools - an issue that has been solved down here by amalgamations. McGuinness is known to be in favour of the retention of small schools; six months ago, he successfully campaigned to keep open a small rural primary school in Co Tyrone. Other issues he will have to face include greater support for integrated education and how to retain early school-leavers and people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Fears are widespread in the Protestant community that the Irish language will be foisted on its schools. Thinking Protestants, however, realise that's impossible; McGuinness will be unable to rule by ministerial decree or impose his own will on the Assembly. Under the new agreement, each minister must work with a departmental committee, which will advise, assist, scrutinise and consult on the workings of the particular department. In McGuinness's case, the committee is chaired by UUP member Danny Kennedy; his deputy is Sammy Wilson of the DUP. The remaining nine places on the committee are allocated to the parties on a pro-rata basis.
Much of the fine detail of how the new system will work in Northern Ireland is still being worked out. "It's hectic," civil servants admitted last week. "We haven't enough facts sorted out yet to put them in the public domain. A lot of things relating to the executive have yet to be resolved and the ministers have to become familiar with their roles."
It's clear, though, there's no way McGuinness will have carte blanche. He's going to have to bring all of his committee along with him every step of the way. A source close to McGuinness stresses that the new minister is ill-suited to the role of dictator anyway: "Martin McGuinness would never do anything in a dictatorial fashion that would effect children's education," he says.
"He will advise and consult widely and will be guided. He will consult with Micheal Martin - in fact he's already been in contact. He will be fair and will do anything he can to reach out to people who are opposed to him."
