BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Sitting side by side for the first time in history, the leaders of Northern Ireland's major Protestant and Catholic parties announced a stunning deal Monday to forge a power-sharing administration May 8.
The breakthrough followed unprecedented face-to-face negotiations between the Protestants of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and the Catholics of Gerry Adams' Sinn Fein.
The two foes, who previously negotiated only via third parties, sat beside each other at a table in the main dining room in Stormont Parliamentary Building in Belfast but reportedly did not shake hands.
"After a long and difficult time in our province, I believe that enormous opportunities lie ahead for our province," said Paisley, 80, whose party previously boycotted contact with Sinn Fein because of its links to the outlawed Irish Republican Army....