Millstones are being transformed into milestones under Northern Ireland’s new political dispensation: for the sceptics there could be no more astonishing evidence than to see the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness beaming genially at one another and laughing at each others’ jokes.

The occasion for the first official engagement of these former sworn enemies was a visit by José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, to Stormont.

Mr Paisley, the Democratic Unionist leader, and Mr McGuinness, Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator, who has admitted his Provisional IRA past, will become First Minister and Deputy First Minister next Tuesday in a ceremony to be attended by Tony Blair.

But yesterday Senhor Barroso dropped by to demonstrate the European Union’s enthusiasm for power-sharing between the two men’s parties. If the Portuguese politician mugged up on the Province’s bitter past before his arrival he must surely have been amazed by all the bonhomie. Before Mr Paisley signed up to power-sharing with Sinn Fein his deputy, Peter Robinson, gave warning that it would mean “a battle a day”. “The Doc”, as his acolytes call him, said that his first meeting with Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, was “a work-in, not a love-in”.

But perhaps it was first-date nerves which gave this first public outing a note of hilarity verging on hysteria as the former gunman and the former tub-thumper went out of their way to appreciate one another’s company. And the conversational gambits were no different to those tried and tested by any two consenting adults fixing their eyes upon one another for the first time and feeling the sparks fly. They talked food and football.

Senhor Barroso got the serious business out of the way with an announcement of a task force to secure European funding for reconciliation in Northern Ireland and a pledge of £683 million in aid.

Mr Paisley then employed a novel form of détente – given that Portugal and Ireland are both contenders for the worst cuisine in Europe – by inviting Senhor Barroso to experience “fadge”, or potato bread – “The best food in all the world is cooked and eaten in Northern Ireland,” he said.

Then Senhor Barroso, a fan of Sporting Lisbon Football Club, revealed that his discussions with Mr Paisley and Mr McGuinnees touched upon his compatriots, José Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Mr Paisley then quipped in a reference to his local team: “He didn’t know anything about Ballymena United.” This illicited a final burst of side-splitting from the assembled throng.

The Ian and Martin Show – it’s going to be a laugh a minute.

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