KEY POINTS:
It is the closest thing to a miracle that Belfast has seen: the sight of the two veterans, Protestant patriarch and iconic republican, standing shoulder-to-shoulder to vow that they will leave the past behind.
It flew in the face of all history, all experience and all intuition to
think of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness promising to run Northern Ireland together for the benefit of all its people.
But that's what they did at yesterday's historic ceremony at Stormont as Paisley and McGuinness took office.
Until recently they seemed to occupy different political planets. But the two warriors of the Troubles, whose natural habitat seemed to be conflict, stood side-by-side and affirmed to the world that the war is over and that a new era is at hand.
Another minor miracle was that they did so with every appearance of enthusiasm and mutual respect. Far from any hint of reluctance, they projected that they are looking forward to a new era with great relish.
Paisley, now Northern Ireland's First Minister, spoke of "a time when hate will no longer rule". McGuinness, ex-IRA and now his new deputy, spoke of peace and reconciliation. They both clearly meant it.
Few doubt they could have fought on forever, fortified by all the centuries of antagonism, yet the peace process came along to rescue them, and Northern Ireland.
Paisley is among those who regard it all as a bit of a miracle.
In Stormont, the scene of so many failed initiatives which has finally become the scene of a spectacularly successful one, Paisley began his speech by saying: "If you had told me some time ago that I would be standing here to take this office, I would have been totally unbelieving."
The recent history of the process has been studded with minor miracles. The IRA has gone away, and the big loyalist groups are fading. Anglo-Irish relations are in a golden era, Unionists are developing friendly relations with the Irish Republic. Soldiers have disappeared from the streets, republicans support the police, and there are few funerals.
This settlement received overwhelming endorsement in a recent election. The world, and almost everyone in Northern Ireland, now simply wants the Paisley-McGuinness alliance to get on with it.
And if McGuinness can casually stroll into Paisley's Stormont office, as he did yesterday, then it is difficult for any doubters to argue that he is unfit for government office.
Already the two are working closely together and presenting a common front against the first thing they have identified as a common target: Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. They want a peace dividend, and the fact that their campaign is a joint one means Brown will find it hard to send them away empty-handed.
Years ago an astute observer of Northern Ireland forecast that progress would eventually come in a rush. He quoted Ogden Nash: "Shake and shake the ketchup bottle; first none will come and then a lot'll."
Paisley in particular is - aged 81 or not - clearly raring to go as in effect Northern Ireland's prime minister, and is utterly unabashed by having a former IRA leader by his side.
Yesterday he deployed his occasionally self-deprecating sense of humour, chatting away to the prime ministers and McGuinness as they sat on a sofa and armchairs and sipped tea for the television cameras.
"I wonder why people hate me when I'm such a nice man," he said with a chuckle.
But Paisley has already warned that the new Northern Ireland is not going to be a paradise.
No longer will local politicians be able to leave thorny issues in education or agriculture to London to sort out: from now on, the buck will stop with them.
At some stage they will have to confront the question of segregation in the cities, where almost 60 "Peace Lines," some of them 10m high, divide hardline loyalist and republican areas.
But Paisley and McGuinness have already shown that even the greatest barriers can be brought down.
The people that made it possible:
* John Hume
Nobel laureate and former head of Sinn Fein's nationalist rivals, the SDLP, he championed the idea that republicans could enter the political arena if the IRA abandoned violence.
* Gerry Adams
Head of Sinn Fein, he supported IRA violence but sought dialogue with a range of leading figures. While supporting the decommissioning of IRA weapons he has fashioned Sinn Fein into a major political force.
* Father Alec Reid
The Falls Rd-based priest tried to persuade nationalist and religious leaders that secret talks with Sinn Fein might increase the chances of peace.
* Albert Reynolds
As Dublin Prime Minister he pushed the peace process. He persuaded John Major that the peace process could work, and was PM when the IRA declared its 1994 ceasefire.
* John Major
As British PM, he explored the prospects of peace and the huge question of whether the IRA might be persuaded to abandon violence. He also sanctioned secret talks with the IRA.
* Bill Clinton
Devoted more time to Northern Ireland than any other United States President and caused a Washington-London rift by allowing Gerry Adams into the US.
* David Trimble
As leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, he took huge risks by going into Government with Sinn Fein while the IRA retained its weapons. Has just joined the Tories.
* George Mitchell
The ex-US senator was dispatched by Clinton as peace envoy to Belfast, where he spent five years chairing talks. He held the talks together during many crises.
* Tony Blair
The British PM spent a decade on the details of the peace process, trying to coax republicans into power sharing. In effect he persuaded the IRA to go away.
* Bertie Ahern
As Irish PM spent 10 years working with Blair and negotiating with republicans. He also built bridges with northern Unionists, culminating in last month's public handshake with Ian Paisley.
- INDEPENDENT
