国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

   

Historic handshake in Northern Ireland

(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-11 15:14

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Northern Ireland leader Ian Paisley and the head of state of the Irish Republic, President Mary McAleese, shook hands Monday for the first time - another symbolic milestone on Ireland's road to reconciliation.


Northern Ireland First Minister Dr Ian Paisley, left, meets Irish President Mary McAleese for the first time, at Somme Heritage Center, which honors the sacrifices of British soldiers from Ireland in World War I, at Conlig in Northern Ireland, Monday, Sept. 10, 2007. [AP]

Paisley, 81, for decades rejected any role for the Irish Republic in Northern Ireland, a predominantly Protestant part of the United Kingdom. Last year, he accused McAleese of being a deceitful politician who talked nicely in public but privately loathed Northern Ireland's Protestant majority.

Since taking the helm of a new Catholic-Protestant administration in Belfast four months ago, First Minister Paisley has demonstrated a sudden zeal for cooperating with the predominantly Roman Catholic south.

A battery of photographers captured the moment when Paisley shook hands with McAleese, a Belfast-born Catholic, at a World War I heritage center east of Belfast. The two held hands and offered beaming smiles for several seconds as the cameras flashed.

McAleese, 56, who has made all-Ireland cooperation a major plank of her presidency since 1997, said the rise of Catholic-Protestant cooperation meant Northern Ireland was enjoying "a fresh and energizing new spirit of hope."

Paisley and McAleese met at the Somme Heritage Center, which honors the sacrifices of British soldiers from Ireland in World War I, particularly during the disastrous Somme offensive of 1916. The leaders jointly launched an exhibition on the 16th Irish Division, which was recruited largely from the Catholic south.

Paisley previously broke the ice at symbolic events with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern but until Monday had avoided McAleese, the country's most high-profile diplomat.

Paisley refused to answer questions about tensions within the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, the hard-line Protestant denomination he founded in 1951. On Saturday, his office announced he would step down in January as leader of the Free Presbyterians but gave no reason. Paisley has yet to explain why he was ending his term.

His critics within the church - which rejects ecumenical contact with Catholics - have demanded he go because of his newfound willingness to share power with Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party that represents most Catholics in Northern Ireland.

Protestants and Catholics fought together in British uniform in World War I, although most Protestant troops joined the 36th Ulster Division. Many demobilized Catholic soldiers joined the outlawed IRA upon their return to Ireland, where a two-year guerrilla war led to Ireland's partition and independence for the mostly Catholic south in 1922.



Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
寻甸| 西乡县| 秦安县| 昭觉县| 广饶县| 固原市| 安阳县| 元江| 苍山县| 凤山市| 濮阳县| 安康市| 宁安市| 张家界市| 河曲县| 莒南县| 永平县| 沽源县| 桂阳县| 陕西省| 北川| 阜宁县| 鹿邑县| 丁青县| 云林县| 讷河市| 石门县| 黔西县| 秦安县| 观塘区| 竹北市| 临汾市| 通河县| 海门市| 南皮县| 额济纳旗| 建瓯市| 定南县| 漳浦县| 睢宁县| 普陀区|