Northern Ireland Rivals Reach Deal
BELFAST, Northern Ireland, March 26 — After years of mutual hostility and recrimination, the leaders of Northern Ireland’s dominant rival groups, Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and the Protestant leader, the Rev. Ian Paisley, met today for their first face-to-face talks and agreed to form a joint administration for the province on May 8.
The deal was hailed by Britain and Ireland as a historic breakthrough, more than four years after Northern Ireland’s local government was suspended in October, 2002, after a dispute over espionage activities by the Irish Republican Army.
Ian Paisley, left, and Gerry Adams announced the breakthrough while sitting side by side, a first, in the Stormont Parliament building in Belfast.
clipped from www.nytimes.com
Comments