| One meeting heralds a new era
 Once
they were implacable enemies now they have signalled a new era for the
North of Ireland. So just how did Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley come to
sit down together this week to work towards a lasting power-sharing agreement?
Trevor O’Sullivan follows the historic journey.
FOR more than 30 years the words Northern Ireland have conjured up images of
violence and bitter sectarian division.
Three decades of conflict have left more than 3,000 people dead, pitted
Catholic against Protestant and turned neighbour against neighbour.
But now thanks to the recent and historic moves towards devolution the
region is finally on the brink of perpetual change.
When the two old enemies Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley sat down at the same
table in Stormont this week to signal they were ready to work together
in government it was a sign everything had changed and for the better.
It wouldn’t have happened three years ago. It looked unlikely three
months ago.
But it has now. And the principle reason for the transformation has been
the will of the people.
Thanks to the population’s compelling yearning for peace, a region
that was once tormented by violent conflict euphemistically referred to
as the Troubles is striding towards normality.
The first real instance of the people’s indomitable desire for change
came in the form of The Good Friday Agreement.
Their overwhelming support of the landmark document illustrated the wish
to live free from sectarianism, free from discrimination and free from
the shadow of violence and death.
But people power could only go so far.
The next step was for politicians to eschew decades of bitterness and
mistrust and work together.
Their trenchant opposition to each other’s point of view seemed
to be an interminable obstacle to progress.
The prospect of any middle ground being reached seemed remote. But miraculously
it seems both sides have yielded and ended up finding a resolution.
As DUP leader Ian Paisley put it himself last week: “The political
landscape has been transformed in a way that many said was impossible.”
The most amazing aspect of the negotiations is the identity of these harbingers
of peace.
Many are the very same people who were at the hub of the violence.
Who would have imagined a scenario a decade ago that the self-confessed
former IRA commander would end up deputy first minister?
Yet that is what Martin McGuinness has become.
And working in unison with him will be Ian Paisley a long-time figure
of hate and mistrust amongst Nationalists in the North of Ireland.
If that sounds amazing it is because it is.
If the octogenarian embodiment of Unionist intransigence who has built
his reputation on denouncing the IRA as murdering scum can become colleagues
with the former subject of his wrath then quite literally anything is
possible.
At Paisley’s side as education minister we could very well see Gerry
Kelly — a former hunger striker jailed for his part in the IRA bombings
of the Old Bailey and Scotland Yard.
Add the transformation of Gerry Adams from a shadowy figure of division
to someone lauded for his endeavours toward peace and you can see what
surreal progress has been made.
Since the spectre of violence was removed from the equation the North
of Ireland has blossomed. And it’s certain to continue to bloom
in this bright new future.
The greatest impediment to economic prosperity was always instability. With
that obstacle removed the economy has grown exponentially.
Over the past decade the North of Ireland has achieved unprecedented rates
of employment growth with more than an additional 100,000 jobs in the
economy compared with 10 years ago.
At the same time there has been record low unemployment and the North
is experiencing record levels of immigration.
A house price index from the University of Ulster revealed recently that
Belfast has seen property values increase by 41 per cent during the course
of 2006.
According to the latest Lonely Planet travel guide: “The region
is now abuzz with life: The cities are pulsating, the economy is thriving
and the people, the lifeblood that courses through the country, are in
good spirits.”
Indeed the guide described the North of Ireland as one of the must-see
places to visit in 2007.
This historic political development will surely add invaluable credence
to such a view.
London-based Irishman Gerard McNally said: “I think we all must
realise how momentous an occasion this is. For Paisley and Adams to even
sit in the same room and converse is hugely historic.
“The public has spoken and Northern Ireland has come a long, long
way.
“They’ve still a long way to go of course but I think we should
all congratulate those who have paved the way for where we are today,
especially Gerry Adams and former SDLP leader John Hume.” |
