Never thought I'd see itFollow

We've had a number of false starts in the Northern Irish Peace Process, but today, for the 1st time in almost 40 years of opposing each other and refusing to speak or meet, Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams met and agreed to work together in a devolved Northern Irish Government.

There's still scope for the nutters (Orange or Green) to bomb the peace back a few years, but I';m genuinely amazed and delighted.

Such a beautiful part of the world deserves a break.

Fingers crossed.

Ye haven't lev'd til ye've had a Bealfast neyt oyt!

I agree, a glorious day for Northern Ireland, the UK, the Queen, and Elton John.

Mostly for Northern Ireland, though.

It's funny, if Blair had been a bit less of a poodle on the Iraq war, he would surely be remembered as "one of the great" PMs. At least now, part of his "legacy" is settled.

I used to think it would take one more death for Northern Ireland to have a proper government, but it seems that for some people 90 is the age of reason. So i should give belated credit to Ian Paisley for finally not being a complete Knut anymore. Only a partial one.

A labia, if you will.

Well, I'm no expert on the subject, but from what I udnerstand, there are still lots of problems in Northern Ireland, and unofficial "paramilitary" groups are one of them. Though if they were in England, they would just be called "thugs", "chavs", "pack of feral youth", or "gangs".

As for the drug sales and turf wars, well that's happening in every deprived corner of the UK, so I'm not sure it's NI specific.

The political settlement was still the first necessary step to start solving those other problems. Of which there are many.

And while I'm sure we can debate the religious element is the real factor, it is still important, if only with regards to "identity".

But, all in all, it's looking good. The economic prospects are getting better, which has got to be the second most important step after the political settlement.

No, that's a bit simplified.

On the ground, it is true that "paras" (though I don't think it's the right word, "militia" might be better, or "group of ignorant and violent men") cause trouble. They are often loosely associated with either the IRA, or the Unionists of Paisley. And yes, they are often involved in criminal activities, but these don't susually have too much of an impact on teh peace process.

The exceptions are when there is a $25 million bank robbery. Or when people get murdered (like the McCarthy guy).

But these events have been relatively rare, and are often the product of groups that can't be directly traced to either group, despite the otehr side screaming they are.

I've always seen Ian Paisley (leader of the Unionists) as the biggest obstacle to peace, but he seems to have chilled out in his old age (90).

god bless em, and lets hope the nutters dont get in the way of what could be a major turning event in the history of the UK.