FOR THOSE Americans who despair of peace between Israelis and Palestinians or between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq, there is proof in Northern Ireland that such ancient hatreds can be overcome: Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, once mortal enemies, are on a historic path to become, respectively, leader and deputy leader of a power-sharing government in that long-divided land.
Even in 2007, after years of halting peace negotiations and on-again, off-again deals, it is still stunning to think that these two men could end up working together in one government -- that Paisley, the firebrand Protestant preacher who has ranted against Catholics and Irish unification for more than 50 years, could possibly agree to enter a coalition with a former leader of the Irish Republican Army, one of the world's most notorious terrorist organizations.
The deal has yet to be finalized, but Rev. Paisley has already agreed in principle, saying that he would will indeed become first minister if and when McGuinness' Sinn Fein party pledges its support for the Northern Ireland police (with which Sinn Fein's military wing, the IRA, was at virtual war for decades).
Sinn Fein, for its part, is clearly preparing to endorse the police, and last Friday the party's executive council agreed to hold a special convention this month to propose a motion on the subject.
Compromise is a dirty word in Northern Ireland, and both Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein have in the last three years become the two largest parties by attacking the power-sharing compromises of moderate leaders such as David Trimble and John Hume, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.
So why are Paisley and Sinn Fein now apparently prepared to compromise? There is no simple answer, but the people of Northern Ireland are war-weary and appear to realize, after nearly 4,000 deaths since 1969 and terrible suffering, that neither side can prevail.
Second, a crucial breakthrough occurred last year when the IRA, after many false starts, finally decommissioned its weapons. Once the destruction of the weapons was verified by independent monitors, the last major obstacle to serious negotiations was removed.
Third, Britain's Tony Blair and Ireland's Bertie Ahern have consistently refused to restore government to the parties in Belfast unless the two sides -- loyalist and nationalist -- share power. They've also said that if there is no deal by next March, the 108 politicians and their advisors in the Belfast Assembly will not only lose their salaries and generous allowances, they probably will be faced with joint rule from London and Dublin.
