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Peter Robinson took over as Northern Ireland's first minister, succeeding Ian Paisley and shoring up last year's agreement to share power with political foes in a regional government.

Martin McGuinness, member of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party and former Irish Republican Army (IRA) guerrilla, was reappointed as deputy first minister despite tensions with Robinson's pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Failure to nominate the ministers could have triggered elections and destabilised the fledgling administration whose formation cemented a 1998 peace deal that ended 30 years of bloodshed in which more than 3600 people were killed.

There had been fears that Sinn Fein would stall the nomination process unless it secured a timetable on the transfer of policing powers from London to Belfast.

Paisley, 82, a firebrand Protestant cleric who stepped down on Saturday as DUP leader, set aside decades of hatred last May when he agreed to share power with predominantly Catholic foes.

"He (Paisley) has laid the foundation for this new era and now it is up to the rest of us to build upon it," Robinson told deputies after his appointment.

Gerry Adams, president of the IRA's political ally Sinn Fein, said his party and the DUP had proved politics can work.

"I want to commend Ian Paisley," Adams said. "Today is a day to praise Caesar, not to bury him."

Paisley's jovial appearances over the last year with his former enemy McGuinness have taken many by surprise and led to the unlikely duo being dubbed the "Chuckle Brothers".

Relations with the more businesslike Robinson are expected to be cooler, however.

"There is no elevator that will take us to a successful outcome," Robinson said. "We will just have to take the staircase step by step by step."

McGuinness said building a more prosperous province and securing foreign investment must remain key objectives.

"The honeymoon period is over," McGuinness said. "This is now about hard work. People out there are expecting results."

The IRA pledged to disarm in 2005, pursuing a united Ireland through peaceful means, but its continued existence and sporadic attacks by splinter guerrilla groups mean many DUP members are in no hurry to see a locally controlled police force.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will meet Robinson and McGuinness in London on Friday, aiming to put in place a process to deal with the issues, his office said.

Reuters

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