Not only was the SDLP leader, John Hume, receiving congratulations from all and sundry on the Belfast Agreement when he turned up in Dublin last week, but he was given the freedom of the city of Palermo in Sicily, as well. Mr Hume was launching Irish-Italian Links: Two Countries At Work In The EU by Enzo Farinella, a Sicilian now living in Dublin.
The Lord Major of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando MEP said in a message that the North and Sicily had much in common, in that they had both suffered in the past and were now looking towards the future with new faith and great hope.