N. Ireland parties agree to share power from May 8

Northern Ireland's main Protestant and Catholic parties agreed on Monday to start sharing power on May 8 after their leaders put aside decades of hostility to hold a historic first meeting.

Hardline Protestant cleric Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), sat side-by-side with Gerry Adams, head of the mainly Catholic Sinn Fein, to announce the ground-breaking deal to work together in governing the province.

"Today we've agreed with Sinn Fein that this date will be Tuesday, May 8, 2007," Paisley said after the meeting at the Northern Ireland assembly's imposing building in Belfast. "We must not allow our justified loathing of the horrors and tragedies of the past to become a barrier to creating a better and more stable future for our children," Paisley said.

Britain and Ireland have been pushing Northern Ireland's feuding parties for years to agree to share power, seeing it as a crucial step towards cementing peace in the province of 1.6 million people that has been riven by years of violence.

Adams said relationships between the people of Ireland had been marred by centuries of conflict and hurt but "now there is a new start, with the help of God". The DUP wants to maintain Northern Ireland's links with Britain while Sinn Fein's ultimate aim is a united Ireland.

The British government had told both sides they must start jointly running Northern Ireland's day-to-day affairs on Monday or accept indefinite direct rule from London. But Paisley's DUP said on Saturday it wanted a delay until May.

Britain could accept delay

Britain has indicated it could accept a delay if all the Northern Irish parties agreed. The prime ministers of Britain and Ireland, who have worked
together closely on the peace process for a decade, hailed the agreement.

"This is a very important day for the people of Northern Ireland ... In a sense everything we've done in the last 10 years has been a preparation for this moment," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was eager for a deal before he steps down in a few months.

His Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern said the agreement "has the potential to transform the future of this island".

Paisley has always refused to talk to Adams because of Sinn Fein's alliance with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) group. But on Monday, Adams and Paisley sat within a few feet of each other around a table. There was no public handshake.

Paisley is expected to become first minister in a devolved Northern Ireland administration while Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness would be deputy first minister.