Historic handshake - Victory for the peace process

Yesterday’s meeting in Belfast was a symbolic moment that closes what was begun with the British Queen’s visit to the Republic last year.

It now seems that the Queen can go anywhere in Ireland. Hopefully, her next visit will be seen as the same of any other head of state visiting this island.

Today happens to be the 90th anniversary of the Provisional Government’s attack on the Four Courts, marking the start of the Civil War. In a sense the events of yesterday should not only be seen as a milestone in the progress of the peace process in Northern Ireland but also as a gesture that finally allows us to confine the Civil War to history.

It was a conflict that people could hardly discuss because emotion ruled reason for too long. The older generation went through school without studying the Civil War period, as the residual bitterness was so great that rational debate seemed impossible.

No one side had a monopoly of right or justice. There were mistakes on all sides, but, because of the passions involved, it became easier to ignore the conflict. As a result we did not learn from many of the mistakes, but repeated them again and again in the ensuing decades.

People in the Republic have had 90 years to recover from the turmoil of those troubled times, which should help them to understand the magnitude of yesterday’s meeting in Northern Ireland, where most adults will likely have vivid memories of the more recent troubles there.

The front-page photograph of deputy first minister Martin McGuinness shaking hands with the Queen while first minister Peter Robinson and Prince Philip are smiling in the background is a picture that speaks volumes. Taken as the Queen was leaving the meeting, Mr McGuinness fittingly wished her “slán agus beannacht”, which he told her meant “goodbye and God speed”.

It was an appropriate use of the cúpla focail as Gaeilge and a fitting reminder of the few words in Irish that she so appropriately used at the state dinner in Dublin Castle last year. While Mr Robinson attended that dinner for the Queen, Mr McGuinness absented himself, so the meeting yesterday really completes that process and allows everybody to move on.

What happened yesterday was not a victory for any one side; it was a triumph for the peace process and sanity. The whole country and the rest of the world can now look forward to the Irish Open Golf Championship beginning in Royal Portrush today.

Golf has been a sport in which Irishmen have excelled in recent years, and it has also been one of the activities where co-operation between the North and the Republic has always been strong. Even in the midst of the tourist downturn in recent years, golf tourism has blossomed, and this should provide a further boost. It should also serve as an example of how the whole island can benefit from real co-operation.