The Strange Friendship of Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley

Not much more than a decade ago, the idea that Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley’s names belonged together might have seemed fantastical.

One was a crusty Protestant firebrand from Antrim. The other was a Catholic militant from Derry young enough to be his son. They stood on opposite sides of battle lines—sometimes literal ones—for decades. What little they shared was not promising: a mutual hatred, and a history of involvement in sectarian violence.  Yet the two men eventually became close working colleagues, so amiable they were christened “the Chuckle Brothers” and so closely associated that with McGuinness’s death Tuesday, the two men’s names and reputations are intertwined.

McGuinness, who was born in 1950, joined the IRA after dropping for secret talks with the British government, becoming close in the process.