A Handshake for History

In a telling gesture of his commitment to peace in Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Tony Blair clasped the hand of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams as political talks got underway at Belfast. That handshake between a British leader and a militant Irish nationalist could not have been imagined just a few months ago. Where it will lead will be determined by Blair, Adams and others engaged in the talks, but the political courage of the gesture is unquestioned.

Regrettably, Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble, whose followers insist that Northern Ireland remain a British province, was absent from the historic occasion. But representatives of his party were there, and would not have been without the acquiescence of their leader.

Odds are that Trimble will take a seat at the table when the bargaining begins on a political resolution to the long centuries of division in Ulster. Not expected is the Rev. Ian Paisley, whose ultra-unionist party is so opposed to talks that it dispatched hecklers to confront Blair when he visited a shopping center after the handshake.

So now the hard part begins. The agenda is ambitious but the momentum is building. The presence of former Sen. George Mitchell of Maine to mediate between the rival factions gives the proceedings a foundation of evenhandedness. After so many years of sectarian strife, the process is heading in the right direction, thanks to the boldness of Blair, the support of the Irish, the commitment of the adversaries and the tide of history.