Irish President Mary McAleese and Northern Irish First Minister Ian Paisley on Monday evening appeared together for the first time since Paisley took office in May, according to DPA. McAleese and Paisley attended an exhibition commemorating the First World War Battle of the Somme in the Northern Irish town of Newtownards, Irish national broadcaster RTE reported. The Irish president said it was an "honour" to open the exhibition commemorating the Battles of Guillemont and Ginchy, part of the Battle of the Somme. Referring to the Battle of the Somme and Dublin's Easter Rising by Irish nationalists, both of which took place in 1916, McAleese said that the exhibition would provide "a place to stand together in shared respect and a place to help us grow in understanding of those difficult times." McAleese congratulated Paisley and his colleagues "on the tremendous start you have made on your journey of partnership towards a new society in Northern Ireland and a new mood of good neighbourliness across this island." "There could be no better monument to the brave men of Guillemont and Ginchy," she added. A joint administration between British Unionists led by Paisley and Irish Nationalists took office in May.
