IT WAS the final public performance of the most unpredictable double act. Viewed sometimes as the Chuckle Brothers and on other occasions as the Odd Couple, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness were facing the final curtain as joint leaders of the Stormont Executive.
Unveiling a plaque at the opening of Stena Line’s new £37 million ferry terminal in Belfast’s docklands, Mr McGuinness conveyed his own view of his relationship with the unionist colossus as Mr Paisley entered his final 24 hours as First Minister.
It was both historic and memorable, he said, and one which “changed the course of the history of this island for the better and for the good of all our people”.
There were metaphors to be drawn. “I’m conscious that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went to the moon and were joined forever afterwards in history,” he said.
“I’m also conscious that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay went to the top of Everest. I think Ian Paisley and I have climbed our own Everest and gone to our own moon. I think we’ve gone to a place many people thought we would never go – into government together.”