THE FUTURE DUP leader and first minister Peter Robinson has pledged to continue operating productively with the Government and the Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Mr Robinson's first appointment after he was elected DUP leader and first minister designate by his DUP Assembly colleagues yesterday morning was to meet the taoiseach-designate Brian Cowen.
Both Mr Robinson and Mr Cowen pledged to continue the work of the leaders they will soon replace, the Rev Ian Paisley and Bertie Ahern.
Mr Robinson indicated that future relationships would be essentially relating to work and pragmatism and were unlikely to carry the same level of personal warmth that Dr Paisley exuded when dealing with Mr McGuinness and Mr Ahern.
Of the relationship with the Republic, Mr Robinson said: "We should exploit the advantage of being a part of the UK economy while at the same time co-operating to our mutual advantage with the dynamic economy to our south."
After their first meeting in their new designate roles, Mr Cowen said: "We have a very good, mature, straightforward relationship. We are doing our respective jobs for the people who we represent and we want to work co-operatively." Mr Robinson was reluctant to make much comment about his election yesterday before it is formally ratified by the DUP ruling executive of more than 100 members on Thursday evening.
Mr Robinson, who is 59, has been deputy leader of the DUP since 1980 apart from a period of over two months when he resigned his post in the mid-1980s.
"I am a patient man," he joked yesterday. His deputy leader will be the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Industry Nigel Dodds, who was also elected unanimously.
Mr Robinson said he would work in a professional way with Mr McGuinness. "Obviously within the Executive I work on a regular basis with the Deputy First Minister. We will do business and will do business together in a professional and workmanlike way and hopefully in a productive way that will bring results," he said.
"In relation to style there will only ever be one Ian Paisley. It would be a very foolish person who set out to try to mimic him. Each leader will bring their own style and their own skills to the job. I think, whoever the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party will be, they will have to recognise that they follow in the shoes of someone who had the party formed around them. Therefore, there will be a requirement for a more collective and corporate decision-making process," he added.
Mr Robinson said he was honoured to have "the support of my Assembly colleagues". He was confident for the future. "I don't think there is anybody who feels any temporary feeling about the structures and the institutions," he said.
Mr Robinson had a number of engagements yesterday, including a meeting with European commissioner Danuta Hubner who confirmed that between now and 2013 Northern Ireland will benefit to the tune of €1.1 billion from EU initiatives.
Mr McGuinness said he too could work with Mr Robinson. "I have had a good, positive working relationship with Peter Robinson and all the Ministers on the Executive. While we are not going to get Chuckle Brothers part two, what you are going to get are serious-minded people hopefully taking serious decisions," he said.
"I am going to strive to bring to all of this the same positive and constructive approach I had during the time that Ian Paisley was there. We will see what will happen between Peter Robinson and I in the time ahead. But I think that the omens are good," he added.
"What you have to do is move forward and work in a civilised and cordial atmosphere taking decisions that will benefit all of the people of the North and indeed all of the people who live on this island. Are we capable of doing that? I believe we are," he said.