Model for Peace

Meeting with Paisely and McGuinness in Brussels on Thursday, Jan 10, European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the two leaders could offer help to parts of Europe still suffering from strife.

"Northern Ireland is a success story that can be an inspiration for other parts of Europe -- we still have problems in our continent -- and for other parts of the world," Barroso said.

He added that the EU was ready to work with Northern Ireland and use its leaders' expertise and experience to bring a "sense of hope of a better future" to areas strained by conflicts and divisions.

While Barroso did not explicitly mention Kosovo, the future status of the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province continues to be of major concern for EU officials.

"Historic" visit

Paisley and McGuinness are both members of the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive which brings both the Protestant and Catholic communities together while remaining part of Britain.

The two, who were in Brussels together for the first time in their new roles, hailed a new "historic" relationship with Europe.

"We have the doors to Europe wide open," said First Minister Paisley. For 25 years as a member of the European parliament he had tried "to kick down the doors" he said. However, he said now things were different and Northern Ireland had a "voice in high places."

Their talks with EU officials were aimed at building upon a successful peace process and cementing relationships with the EU to underpin the Northern Ireland economy.

"We are in Europe, we want to be part of the European experience," Paisley told a press conference in Brussels. "We believe we in Northern Ireland have a contribution to make. We believe there is room for innovation and growth in Northern Ireland and we are very grateful for the continued support we get from the Commission."

EU aid for Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has received about 2.5 billion euros in regional support from Europe over the past 20 years. Barroso last year set up a special European Commission task force on Northern Ireland which is due to report for the first time next month on how best to utilize EU expertise ad resources.

However, Northern Ireland no longer has Objective One status - the term given to regions of the EU which qualify for the most support from Brussels. Barroso said the North already had a strong sense of hope following the peace process and the setting up of the Executive. "We now need to turn that into opportunities and help Northern Ireland use available European funding as quickly as possible," he told them. The EU chief said up to now the bulk of EU funding had gone towards peace projects, but now the aim was to look at growth, innovation, research and training to build up the Northern Irish economy.