IT was a throwaway quip that acted like a valve, releasing the tension which had pushed the Stormont government to the brink of implosion.
The laughter that greeted Peter Robinson’s one-liner to Gordon Brown as they launched the Hillsborough Agreement spoke of the relief felt by all. "Gordon, I know that you are looking forward to the London Olympics in 2012. If we can agree ‘negotiating’ would be included as one of the sports, we will enter a team, we will lift the gold medal... and then we’ll enter into negotiations about what flag and national anthem we use."
The gag from the usually stern-faced DUP leader summed up the infuriating essence of Northern Ireland politics. Standing at his shoulder, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness also used humour to demonstrate the enduring historic divides.
"At one stage I proposed to Peter and I thought he had agreed that he would wear a green tie today and I would wear an orange one," said the Deputy First Minister. At this the audience glanced down to establish both were sporting more neutral colours.
"As you can see, we’ve got off to a bad start," he added, turning to his rival. "I knew you would chicken out."
Away from the fine print of the deal, the sight of an ex-IRA commander trading jokes with a unionist leader in the throne room of a royal residence told how much Northern Ireland, despite the stumbles, has advanced.
While there was to be no repeat of the handshake accepted by Robinson from McGuinness (a political first) when revelations about the First Minister’s private life became public to provide a symbolic seal on the deal, and while the DUP leader said he did not intend to indulge in such "stunts", there was the hint of a developing respect for an erstwhile enemy. "I appreciated him doing that, it was a genuine position."
McGuinness, for his part, while stating he believed in a United Ireland, stressed the need for republicans to understand the unionist psyche and for both communities to proceed "on the basis of partnership, respect, fairness and equality". Both parties, along with the majority of people in Northern Ireland, will hope the deal provides the platform for doing just that.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, February 06, 2010
