Sky's the limit now that deal is done

The Sky's the Limit. The name of the musical group that performed at the restoration of the Stormont Assembly could not have …

The Sky's the Limit. The name of the musical group that performed at the restoration of the Stormont Assembly could not have been better chosen.

Here was this group of adults with special needs miming opera and ballads before some of the biggest names in contemporary politics, with Tony Blair, Ted Kennedy, Jean Kennedy Smith, Bertie Ahern, Ian and Eileen Paisley, Albert Reynolds, Gerry Adams, John Reid, Peter Hain and a panoply of ambassadors and senior civil servants in the audience.

Had anyone predicted even a year ago that Dr Paisley would be happily preparing to rule Northern Ireland in partnership with Martin McGuinness, the forecaster might well have been locked up for his or her own good.

Think of where we have come from.

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Ten years to the day before yesterday's events, a Catholic man, Robert Hamill, died from injuries received weeks beforehand at the hands of a loyalist mob in Portadown.

Twenty years to the day we had the Loughgall ambush in which eight IRA men and an innocent bystander were shot dead by the SAS. The idea of getting from there to where we are now seemed a quixotic endeavour at the time. Many of the people who made it all happen were at Stormont yesterday.

Like George Bernard Shaw, they dreamt things that never were and said, "Why not?"

Interestingly, the idea of inviting the special needs performers came from Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and was taken up with gusto by First Minister Ian Paisley.

No doubt the Kennedys, who have been a driving force behind the Special Olympics, appreciated the concept. Explaining the message behind the mime, a Stormont Assembly official said: "It says that this place is open to every section of society."

One of the songs played was You Raise Me Up and, earlier in the morning, a whole slew of Northern politicians were raised to new heights as Ministers in the powersharing Executive.

One sensed a certain residual awkwardness on the DUP benches where some members still have difficulty looking across at the "shinners".

But everything went off in an atmosphere of propriety and decorum although there are bound to be some stormy days at Stormont in the future.

Events have gone beyond the "pinch me, is it real?" stage although one still does a double-take seeing so many militant republicans sitting in the previously reviled unionist enclave, claiming their share of ownership.

Dr Paisley sat with both hands spread on the bench in front of him like a gunslinger in an old western seeking to prove he was unarmed.

There were some genuine former gunslingers on the other side of the chamber but they, too, were in a benign mood.

Unionist members listened politely as Sinn Féin speakers exercised their right to make part of their speeches in Irish. "Comhghairdeachas," said Gerry Adams when the DUP's William Hay was elected Speaker, but quickly added a translation: "Congratulations."

If this kind of good manners continues, they will all be speaking the same language politically. But the most important word yesterday was the inelegant English compound, "cross-community".

When the Speaker announced after various Assembly decisions, "I am satisfied that cross-community support has been demonstrated", you knew Northern Ireland was on the threshold of a new era.

But there was a quiet satisfaction, verging at times on joy, about this occasion; there was also a tinge of sadness.

Whatever his flaws and faults, fumblings and failings, not to mention the appalling disaster of Iraq, Tony Blair will always have his role as a Northern Ireland peacemaker to his credit.

But Blair is about to depart the stage and there's a question mark over Bertie Ahern's future. Other veterans of the peace process who were there cannot have much more left to give.

The underlying message for the Assembly members was: "You're on your own now." The jury is still out on the future of the new dispensation.

In the past, rivers of hate have flowed between the two sides but, from now on, endless reserves of patience and civility will be required to make it all work.

What is already being called "the Vicar's Tea-Party" was a good omen for the future. Dr Paisley led the conversation, gently joshing Blair about the fact that the prime minister was stepping down at a relatively young age while the DUP leader was taking high office in his eighties.

In the same spirit of high good humour, the First Minister quipped: "I wonder why people hate me, because I'm such a nice man."

But the Doc couldn't resist a gentle political dig by referring to the Taoiseach as "the guest from the South".

When all the events were over home secretary John Reid, who marked his 60th birthday yesterday, summed it all up: "It's a smashing way to celebrate it."