Paisley, Adams together at last

THE POLITICAL conflict in Northern Ireland, grounded on opposing interpretations of history, does not yield itself to easy resolution, and it is usually reasonable to be wary of the latest supposed breakthrough. But the decision of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein to work together on one controversial local issue suggests that they are ready to form a coalition government.

For the Democratic Unionists, the connection with Britain is a sacred bond, and the Irish Republican Army is a gang of murderers. Sinn Fein regards the British as alien occupiers and believes the IRA was right to seek reunification with the rest of Ireland. The 1998 Good Friday agreement, under which the government is to be formed, was written for more moderate parties.

But Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and the DUP's Ian Paisley were sitting side by side yesterday -- a first -- because each had discovered the delights of political power. Adams, reputedly a former IRA chief of staff, had determined by the early 1980s that military victory was impossible. He embarked on a campaign to make Sinn Fein a political force in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Now head of the largest nationalist party in the north, he hopes the latest deal will enhance Sinn Fein prospects in the parliamentary elections soon to be called in the republic.

Conversion to coalition politics came later for Paisley, an inveterate anti-Catholic and naysayer to accommodation with Irish nationalism. Since the DUP became the leading unionist party in 2003, Paisley and his lieutenants realized that the alternative to a coalition was direct rule from London with increasing input from the Irish Republic. And, the DUP leaders, being politicians, were attracted to perks of office. They calculated it was better to partner with the loathed Sinn Fein than to watch helplessly as the republic increased its influence in the north.

There was no handshake at yesterday's press conference, but Paisley promised to consult with Martin McGuinness, another IRA veteran, who will lead the Sinn Fein delegation in the government while Adams tends to Ireland-wide matters. The two parties will now have to negotiate the makeup and procedures of a government scheduled to begin operation on May 8. Perhaps familiarity will breed consensus, not contempt.

It already has on one issue. Both parties have persuaded the British government to delay the imposition of water rates on Northern Irish households. Water bills will continue to be paid out of general tax revenues.

The British are right that water charges should be billed separately, to encourage conservation and to provide money for improvements. Who knows whether either party will show flexibility here, but better that they focus on the accommodations of the present than be paralyzed by the hatreds of the past.