The picture of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness laughing together had a strong impact, writes Mary Fitzgerald
In the end it was the photograph of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness laughing together on the staircase at Stormont that captured the significance of Tuesday's historic events for the international media.
The picture, showing Paisley, his head thrown back with mirth next to McGuinness's slightly more restrained grin, was the picture choice for most of the British and several European papers.
While the story made the front page in most British newspapers, it was perhaps a sign of the times that many in Europe and the US were content to run their coverage inside. The events at Stormont did not feature on the front of any of the main French dailies, nudged out of the way by more pressing domestic issues.
In Spain, El País rose to the occasion and splashed the picture of Paisley and McGuinness on its front page, tied in with two pages of reports inside. The day before, the newspaper had run an op-ed piece on Northern Ireland, written by the Taoiseach.
In Germany, Northern Ireland was the lead story for the quality press, making the front page in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Berlin's Tagesspiegel. The latter said the Northern Ireland experience proved "there are no insoluble conflicts".
The American media was a little more restrained. Only one major newspaper - the Los Angeles Times - ran a full front-page report. The Washington Post, New York Times and Boston Globe relegated the story to the inside, although the New York Times ran a front-page picture of Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley leaving Stormont with the Taoiseach and Tony Blair.
Meanwhile, international reaction to the restoration of powersharing continued to pour in. Speaking during a dinner at the British ambassador's residence in Washington at the end of her six-day state visit to the US, Queen Elizabeth paid tribute to those who had worked to bring peace to Northern Ireland.
Pope Benedict is also expected to commend the British and Irish governments for their efforts to help restore devolution.
He has extended a personal invitation to the Irish ambassador to the Holy See, Philip McDonagh, and his British counterpart, Francis Campbell. Both are from Northern Ireland and have been involved in the peace process in the past.
South African president Thabo Mbeki hailed Tuesday's events as a lesson for others. "The peace process in Northern Ireland has been a long and difficult one, but once again illustrates that even the most intractable differences can be settled through negotiation and dialogue, providing that the necessary political will exists," he said. "We hope that others still mired in conflict, in the Middle East and elsewhere, will take inspiration from the example of Northern Ireland."