| Historic meeting paves way
IT was the day many thought we’d never see. Sinn Féin and
DUP leaders Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley shared a table for their first
joint news conference to declare they had agreed a deal to restore power-sharing
to the North of Ireland.
There were no handshakes or embraces but the moment was historic enough.
After a face-to-face meeting with Mr Paisley who had once declared he
would never sit down with Sinn Féin Mr Adams said: “The agreement
between Sinn Féin and the DUP is the beginning of a new era of
politics on this island.
“The discussions and agreement between our two parties showed the
potential of what can now be achieved.
“Sinn Féin is about building a new relationship between orange
and green and all the other colours where every citizen can share and
have equality of ownership of a peaceful, prosperous and just future.
The pair had met at Stormont amid fears the Northern Ireland Assembly
would be dissolved if they failed to reach agreement by midnight on Monday.
Instead they agreed a deal to see devolved government recommence on May
8 after a meeting lasting just 60 minutes.
The agreement was hailed as historic by political leaders on both sides
of the Irish Sea.
Mr Paisley said: “Our goal has been to see devolution returned in
a context where it can make a real, meaningful improvement in the lives
of all the people.”
British Prime Minister Tony Blair Taoiseach Bertie Ahern claimed the agreement
had the potential to transform the island of Ireland.
The Assembly has been suspended since October 2002 amid allegations of
an IRA spy ring at Stormont.
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