ON November 29 1999 – exactly 26 years ago tomorrow – the first executive of the new Good Friday Agreement institutions was nominated.

It was an extraordinary day, not least because it was the first time Sinn Féin had agreed, in cooperation with unionist parties, to govern Northern Ireland; a country it long argued had no legitimacy.

It was also, and a lot of people forget this, the first time that a unionist party other than the UUP had been a member of a governing cabinet or executive here.

During the initial stages of nomination there was a moment when it looked like the entire process would collapse without completion.

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That moment was the appointment of Martin McGuinness as Minister of Education.

I still remember the frisson rumbling across the unionist benches; since he, much more so than Gerry Adams, was the real bogeyman for unionism, primarily because he never denied his role in the IRA.

“So, Trimble has delivered a terrorist to be in charge of our children,” was the comment from the person sitting next to me.

I wondered how the DUP would respond. Their entire........

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