Peace process - Hope and history wait for decision

IT is astonishing that the tantalising prospect of a power-sharing deal in the North could founder today for want of a photo.

Having brought Sinn Féin and the DUP to the verge of an historic deal that would copper fasten its fledging democracy, it seems incredible that the glittering prize of lasting peace may yet again elude the North's beleaguered people over such a trivial matter as a picture of IRA weapons being put beyond use.

That is the political reality, however, of a culture where symbolism counts for everything. For selfish political ends, DUP leader Ian Paisley wants to etch in the public mind a perception that he has scored a victory over the IRA and Sinn Féin.