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1999: NI power-sharing executive appointedNorthern Ireland has moved a step closer to ending 25 years of direct rule from London after the election of a Northern Ireland Assembly.
Ten members were voted onto the power-sharing executive in Stormont under the leadership of Unionist First Minister David Trimble.
Westminster will now be asked to approve an order devolving power to the Assembly, with actual power expected to be transferred on Thursday.
Later this week, the British and Irish Governments will implement constitutional changes laid down in the Good Friday Agreement.
The articles of the Irish Constitution that lay claim to Northern Ireland will be dropped, while the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement is to be superseded by a new British-Irish Agreement.
But the appointment of Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, a suspected former IRA commander, as the minister in charge of Ulster's schools has provoked anger from some unionists.
Next to Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, Mr McGuinness, is the most powerful member of the Republican movement and was once jailed in the Irish Republic for membership of the IRA.
While hard-liners in Reverend Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party agreed to take their seats in the cross-community government three members walked out of the meeting on hearing Mr McGuiness's appointment.
Danny Kennedy, the Unionist chairman of the assembly's new education committee, said many parents, teachers and educationists would be "very concerned and alarmed" by the "deliberately provocative" appointment.
Despite the protests Mr McGuinness pledged to commit himself to "exclusively peaceful and democratic means", and to serving "all the people of Northern Ireland equally".
"In my opinion all of the children of this island, no matter what political persuasion they come from, are our most important natural resource.
"We have to nurture them, we have to care for them, we have to treat them with equality, treat them with justice and in the course of my work I will be working in a very co-operative fashion with parents and teachers to do our best for our children," he added.
In the share-out of executive posts Mr Trimble chose the enterprise, environment, arts and culture for his party.
But his deputy, John Taylor, distanced himself from the executive by declining a ministerial post.
John Hume, the Social Democratic and Labour Party leader, selected finance, agriculture and higher education for his party.
Seamus Mallon was re-instated as Deputy First Minister after a three-hour debate, while Rev Paisley's deputy, Peter Robinson, became minister for regional development and Nigel Dodds accepted the social development post.
Mr Hume said the successful nomination of ministers represented a "huge and historic development".
"This is the first time in our history that representatives of all sections of our people will be working together in government. It will transform our society and replace the politics and violence of the past," he added.
Despite the Democratic Unionist appointments, Mr Robinson and Mr Dodds still refused to sit down with Sinn Fein.
Other ministerial members voted onto the assembly included Brid Rogers (SDLP) as agriculture minister, Michael McGimplsey (UUP) as minister of culture, Sam Foster (UUP) as minister of the environment and Sean Farren (SDLP) became minister of higher and further education and employment.
Stories From 29 Nov
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