Quips release weeks of tension

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.