By NiallO’Dowd

Both men seem perfectly at ease, despite the fact that they have just ended a war that by various versions stretches back to the 17th century and the Plantation of Ulster by Scottish Presbyterians in 1609.

It was a different Ian Paisley the world saw on Monday. Gone was the bellicose preacher who richly merited the title “Dr. No,” who for decades had thwarted and schemed against every effort to bring about cross-party government in the North.

In its place was a peacemaker, albeit a reluctant one, who had finally faced the reality in the twilight of his years, that his legacy would be that of a deeply divisive leader who passed up the opportunity for peace in order to foment hate and distrust.

On the other side was Adams, who had undertaken his own perilous journey from ferocious partisan to politician to peacemaker. Along the way Adams had repeatedly confounded his numerous critics who had tried to demonize and diminish him. Irish Republicanism has never had such a skilled politician.

The photo is a stunning reminder that sometimes in this world things don’t go from bad to worse, but bad to better.

It is not a message we see that often from Iraq to the Middle East to other world trouble spots, but in this case it is a timely reminder that “a people sometimes will step back from war,” as the poet Dorothy Pugh wrote.

The long and winding road that led to Monday’s announcement of a May 8 start date for a new Northern Ireland government was full of the kind of obstacles that would have daunted lesser men and women.

It has been almost 20 years in the making, since the first tentative approaches between SDLP leader John Hume and Adams became the peace process aborning.

Hume is a remarkable political leader who deserves a huge share of the credit for the process. He was reviled in many quarters for his opening to Adams, yet he understood instinctively that unless the Nationalist/Republican divide was bridged there was no hope of any solution ever.

The role of Father Alex Reid, the Northern Ireland Redemptorist priest who facilitated those earliest meetings, should never be forgotten. There will be many coming to the fore in the weeks and months ahead to claim credit for the peace. Father Reid will not be one of them, but hopefully history will not sell him short. He was indispensable.

Taoiseach (Prime Minster) Bertie Ahern and his British counterpart Tony Blair also earned the title of peacemakers. For Blair it is a marvelous send off to his time as prime minister, especially when his legacy is under such a shadow from the war in Iraq.

In the final weeks when the Paisleyites wanted more concessions, Blair himself stood firm and reiterated that a deadline was just that. In the end they agreed to a face to face meeting with Sinn Fein and a deal was hammered out.

No doubt if Blair had folded like many of his predecessors before a Unionist demand we would still be locked in limbo. It is to his eternal credit and that of his secretary of state Peter Hain that he did not.

For Ahern, who faces the voters in the Irish Republic shortly, it is a timely reminder that under the affable demeanor lies a steely politician who showed his understanding of the Northern community, Nationalist and Unionist, was unique for a southern politician. It was great day’s work by all.