A Farewell To Arms?

An Taoiseach And Northern First Minister In Historic First Meeting At The Battle Of The Boyne Site

Last Friday, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern welcomed Northern Ireland's First Minister Ian Paisley to the historic site of the Battle of the Boyne.

Protected by a massive security operation, Ministers from both the Dublin and Belfast administrations were shown around the €15 million visitor center at Oldbridge House, Co Meath, marking the 1690 clash.

Mr Ahern greeted Dr Paisley and his wife Eileen outside the 17th century estate home before both leaders signed a visitors book.

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern said the visit showed the incredible thawing of relations between Dr Paisley and the Republic: "You wouldn't believe the sigh of relief people have that this has finally happened. People really still don`t understand it - that it has happened so easily."

The minister revealed the remarkable pace of developments has taken the Dublin government by surprise.

"Why did it take so long? Why did it take 3,700 people killed? We can go back over history, but if there had been a bit more good will on both sides we might have got to a day like today much quicker and with an awful lot less pain for all of the people on the island," the minister said.

Senior representatives of the Orange Order and Democratic Unionist Party ministers in the newly-restored Stormont executive in Belfast, Arlene Foster and Edwin Poots, were among the guests.

The 1690 battle sparked by burning ambitions and animosities among Europe's royal, religious and ruling elite strikes deep into the Irish psyche.

Three centuries on, celebrations by Orangemen marking the victory by the Protestant King William III over Catholic King James II can still ignite passions, particularly when marches are routed through mainly nationalist areas.

The largest battle yet fought on Irish soil, where 1,500 men were slaughtered, continues to loom large as a contentious landmark in the history of Irish and British politics.

William, a Dutch Protestant aristocrat, was urged to take the English throne from his Catholic father-in-law James by establishment figures fearful of plans to lead the country back to the old Church.

When the young pretender reached British shores James fled to a sympathetic France and then on to Ireland in a doomed attempt to reclaim his royal seat.

Ironically, William was fighting as an ally of Pope Alexander VIII in their joint drive to thwart France's Louis XIV from becoming Europe's overlord.

And, in an equally bizarre twist, James was effectively battling the Pope in his attempt to prevent England from a return to Catholicism.

More than 60,000 troops fought at the battle - the larger Williamite forces drawn from English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch, Danish and Huguenot troops.

The Jacobites were mostly Irish Catholics, with the help of 6,500 French soldiers sent by King Louis XIV.

The outcome secured William's claim to the British throne alongside his wife Mary, King James's daughter, and their acceptance of parliament's supremacy forever changed the course of British politics.

The Government has been accused of failing to protect the historic valley that cradles the site of the Battle of the Boyne; Environmentalists claiming that the Irish Government has not done enough to protect the area from over-development.

The Battle for the Boyne lobby group is asking Northern First Minister Dr Paisley to press for an end to building projects in the area.

"This is a historic day for all the people of this island," said the group`s spokesman Pat O`Brien.

"For an area with such an exceptional seam of world-class heritage, both local and national Government have presided over an unprecedented period of what can only be described as cultural vandalism," said Mr O`Brien.

He condemned plans to build a waste incinerator in the valley region despite large numbers of objections.

But the Irish Government has defended its record, highlighting its plans to complete work on the visitor centre which is expected to attract huge numbers of visitors.

Irish Foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern said he expects the new center, due to open next spring, to become one of Ireland's top 10 tourism attractions.

"Already, although the location is not open to visitors, about 25,000 people visited the site between May and September," he said.

But Mr O`Brien said: "Allowing these heavy industries into an area with the largest seam of heritage sites on the island of Ireland is monumental folly."

He claimed the rapid population growth in the Greater Dublin area has led to a planning free-for-all in the Boyne Valley.