Bridging Divides in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein and Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party are as close to mortal enemies as politicians can be. Or at least that has been their relationship in the past, which makes it all the more significant that they will be meeting as the heads of their respective delegations today to discuss the implementation of changes to the 1998 Good Friday accords that were worked out between the British and Irish governments and the various parties to the agreement in Northern ireland last week. If accepted, Paisley would become Northern Ireland's First Minister. More shockingly, perhaps, Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness would serve as Paisley's deputy.

All peace agreements in Northern Ireland are tenuous, and this one has been in a constant state of doubt for a host of reasons, not the least of which has been the IRA's reluctance to support fully the Police Service of Northern Ireland (which changed its name and some of its structures in recent years from the days when it was the Northern Ireland Constabulary and its very existence was an affront to vast numbers of Irish Catholics) and to disavow completely violence -- both of the sectarian stripe and also internecine, retaliatory violence against those seen as apostates within the Republican fold.

The peace in Northern Ireland is one of the truly great stories in recent decades, and it came about in no small part through the work of Bill Clinton and his appointed emissary, George Mitchell. Helping to broker the peace deal in Northern Ireland stands as Clinton's greatest foreign policy accomplishment -- maybe his greatest accomplishment period -- and also might have something to tell us about how to address other supposedly immutable and intractable conflicts across the globe.

For today's Boston Globe editorial on these historic meetings, see here.