The Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness forged a historic compromise between unionism and nationalism yesterday at Stormont by agreeing to share power in a new Northern Ireland government.
In a day marked by formality and human touches, DUP leader Dr Paisley and Sinn Féin MP and former IRA leader Mr McGuinness were appointed First Minister and Deputy First Minister to lead a Northern Executive of 10 Ministers.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the British prime minister Tony Blair sat in the VIP visitors' gallery of Parliament Buildings, Stormont, as Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness affirmed pledges of office to work together in the interests of all the people of Northern Ireland and to support the police and the criminal justice system.
And in the first tangible sign of power transferring from Westminster to Stormont, two of the five British direct rule ministers, David Hanson and David Cairns respectively, were transferred out of Belfast to posts in the new British Department of Justice and the Scotland Office.
Now more than nine years after the Belfast Agreement, which the DUP opposed, the four main parties in the North - the DUP, Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP - have for the first time agreed to collectively govern.
Ministers were quickly behind their desks yesterday while the Assembly is sitting again today and the Executive is meeting for the first time tomorrow, reflecting the enthusiasm of the politicians for government.
After almost 40 years of a bitter conflict which claimed the lives of more than 3,700 people and left thousands more physically and emotionally damaged, the focus yesterday was on healing, reconciliation and looking to a better future.
"I believe that Northern Ireland has come to a time of peace, a time when hate will no longer rule," said the new First Minister, Dr Paisley. "How good it will be to be part of a wonderful healing in our province."
Deputy First Minister Mr McGuinness said: "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 and improving our infrastructure."
There was no handshake between Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness yesterday but overall their relationship appeared relaxed and cordial, as it has since the DUP and Sinn Féin in late March agreed to share power. Yesterday too marked what almost certainly are the crowning achievements of Mr Ahern, who is facing a difficult election, and Mr Blair, who is due to retire as British prime minister.
Mr Ahern said that yesterday's events were a "powerful statement that peace is not impossible and conflict is not inevitable". "As we step from this place of history, we must be resolved that this should be the last generation on these islands to feel the anger and pain of old quarrels. We know the unique and delicate balance that binds this process together. Our task is to protect and nurture what has now been achieved," he added.
Mr Blair said yesterday's agreement offered lessons for conflict resolution everywhere in the world: "Look back and we see centuries pockmarked by conflict, hardship, even hatred among the people of these islands. Look forward today and we 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, bound by peace," he added.
President McAleese in a message of congratulations to Dr Paisley, Mr McGuinness and the Executive said yesterday was a truly "extraordinary day" in the history of these islands. "For our part in the South, we stand ready to work with you in a new partnership that will bring tangible benefits to all the people of the island of Ireland.
The US president George Bush in a message said: "I commend the Assembly for your dedication to Northern Ireland and I applaud the people of this region for your desire to overcome a history of violence and division." Senator Edward Kennedy said that the day would "live in the history of freedom-loving people all over the world".
