BELFAST, May 8: Northern Ireland entered a new era Tuesday as former Protestant and Catholic arch-foes were sworn in to share power and restore self-rule in the long-troubled province.

Veteran Protestant leader Ian Paisley, Northern Ireland’s new First Minister, said there was a real chance for ‘lasting peace’ as he took office with former Catholic militant Martin McGuinness as his deputy.

“Northern Ireland has come to a time of peace. A time when hate will no longer rule,” said the firebrand clergyman of the Democratic Unionists (DUP).

“How good it will be to be part of a wonderful healing in this province.”

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the “chains of history” were being cast off.

“Look back and we see centuries pockmarked by conflict, hardship, even hatred among the peoples of these islands,” he said. “Look forward today and we see the chance at last to escape those heavy chains of history.”

London and Dublin hope the autonomous administration will bring permanent peace to Northern Ireland, a British-ruled province where more than 3,000 people have been killed in sectarian violence since the late 1960s.

The real breakthrough came on March 26, when Ian Paisley and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams agreed to share power, albeit with a six-week delay, taking them to Tuesday’s historic inauguration.Under the power-sharing deal, the DUP will hold four ministries, Sinn Fein three, the Ulster Unionists (UUP – moderate Protestant conservatives) two, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP – Catholic, moderate) one.

Economic development is seen as crucial if self-rule is to succeed, and British Chancellor Gordon Brown has vowed a package of 51 billion pounds over the next 10 years.

The United States also hailed the Belfast deal.

Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said Tuesday’s event would open a new era in the province’s history. “It really is a new dawn,” Mr Hain said.—AFP