LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: In Northern Ireland today, a close vote by the major Protestant Party to restore the power-sharing government with Catholics. It clears the way for the British government to put substantial power back in local hands. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Belfast.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As politicians arrive to vote, the top issue last-minute changes of heart.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In negotiations things change.</s>ROBERTSON: Shifts in opinion critical in the final hours. The vote, when it came, giving victory to party leader Dave Trimble by the narrowest of margins, 459 of the 862 votes in favor of the parties return to the provincial government, an act of trust in the IRA's willingness to disarm according to Trimble.</s>DAVID TRIMBLE, ULSTER UNIONIST LEADER: The promise that they will initiate the process that will put their arms completely and verifiably beyond use. It's painfully obvious that those promises must be delivered.</s>ROBERTSON: Trimble said the vote had stretched the party to its limit, a strain evident as delegates gathered earlier.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What other country in the world would have unreconstructed (ph) terrorists in their government. It's sheer madness.</s>ROBERTSON: But it was not just the party pushed to the limit. People angered by the move to share power with the IRA's political wing argued with passion against the vote. Support also for the yes vote. But his political gamble now paid off, Trimble says the divided party must now unite.</s>TRIMBLE: I expect that the debate having been concluded, that we will now see the party united around this position.</s>ROBERTSON: Within hours of the vote, British officials signed documents authorizing the provinces assembly to restart. (on camera): The assembly will likely reconvene early next week. It is a move already welcomed by most involved in the peace process. However, no one here, in particular David Trimble, expects it to be a future free of problems. Nic Robertson, CNN, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Close Vote in Northern Ireland to Restore Power-Sharing Government