The people of Northern Ireland have made clear their longing for peace. They resolutely endorsed the Good Friday accords signed last year and have stood behind them. The embattled province's politicians have kept pace -- sometimes grudgingly. Last week, Northern Ireland took another historic step forward by forming a Cabinet that included both Catholics and Protestants. The hatreds and suspicions created by the 30 years of "Troubles" that claimed more than 3,500 lives remain, but the new power-sharing government offers the first real chance to bring the two sides together and build a common future.

The 12-member Cabinet is evenly divided between Protestants and Catholics, and includes moderates and hardliners from both sides. Its representatives, drawn from the 108-seat National Assembly, now face the daunting task of governing the war-torn province.

The inaugural meeting, presided over by First Minister David Trimble, the head of the Ulster Unionists, the major Protestant party, was followed by a carefully choreographed sequence of events. At the stroke of midnight Thursday morning, power was formally devolved to the new Belfast Parliament following the assent of Queen Elizabeth II. The Irish Republic then amended two articles of its constitution to renounce its territorial claims over the six counties that make up Northern Ireland.