text: "http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/05orthern-ireland-police-powers-agreementBrown hails 'new chapter' in Northern Irelandas end to years of violencePromise of US investment follows 'momentous' agreement that seals power-sharing framework• Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent• quardian.co.uk Friday 5 February 2010 19.11 GMT•XBritish and Irish PMs endorse power-sharing deal Link to this videoNorthern Ireland's leaders have been rewarded with the promise of a new US investment programme after securing ahistoric deal today which saved power sharing.Gordon Brown and his Irish counterpart Brian Cowen flew into Northern Ireland to put their seal of approval on the dealwhich will create a Department of Justice gives unionists concessions on the issue of Protestant parades and saves thepower-sharing executive from collapse.Brown said the achievements over the longest period of unbroken negotiations since the peace process began 16 yearsago were inspirational.""This is the last chapter of a long and troubled story and the beginning of a new chapter after decades of violence yearsof talks weeks of stalemate.""Tonight the White House said Barack Obama saw the deal as ""an important step to greater peace and prosperity for allcommunities on the island.""Obama would also meet Cowen the DUP leader and first minister Peter Robinson and the deputy first minister SinnFein's Martin McGuinness in Washington on St Patrick's Day next month.Earlier Hillary Clinton the US secretary of state said the agreement between the DUP and Sinn Fein was a ""shiningexample to other parts of the world locked in religious and ethnic conflicts"".As a result of the deal she said: ""The people of Northern Ireland are poised to build a thriving society on this strongerfoundation.Our economic envoy DecIan Kelly will continue to help Northern Ireland reap the dividends of peace including economicgrowth international investment and new opportunities. -In the near future Declan and I will host first minister Robinson and deputy first minister McGuinness in Washington.""The Irish prime minister said the agreement reached ""presents a real opportunity to renew the partnership which is the lifeblood of the devolved institutions. The people of Northern Ireland yearn for this constructive partnership to deliver tangibleoutcomes that improve their lives.""Referring back to the Belfast agreement of 1998 Gerry Adams the Sinn Fein president described today's agreement as""yet another good Friday."" After reaching an agreement just before midnight on Thursday the parties in the NorthernIreland assembly must now vote to put the compromise package in place. They will vote on 9 March to devolve policingand justice powers which will then create a justice ministry on 12 April — a key Sinn Fein demand throughout thesenegotiations.Under the agreement a six-member working group appointed by Robinson and McGuinness will formulate a frameworkfor handling contentious marches and the phasing out of the Parades Commission.The new body will encourage local people to find solutions to parading problems with the rights of marchers andresidents taken into account. It will complete its work within three weeks when the Northern Ireland executive will transferresponsibilities for parading legislation from Westminster and table a new bill based on the group's proposals.An executive working group will be set up in the hands of the SDLP and Ulster Unionists to improve the way the power-sharing cabinet is run. Robinson and McGuinness will address issues still outstanding from the 2006 St Andrewsagreement that led to the DUP-Sinn Fein deals. These include legislative measures to protect the rights of Irish languagespeakers.Ian Paisley Jr the North Antrim assembly member and son of the DUP's founder described the agreement as a ""win forunionism"".Paisley said his party had negotiated the end of the Parades Commission which most unionists regard as biased infavour of nationalists. He added that unionist critics of the deal had ""no alternative except the imposition of joint authorityfrom London and Dublin"".Mindful of attacks on the DUP by the hardline Traditional Unionist Voice Robinson said: ""There are some who will playpolitics with this agreement but the real focus in the months to come must be on building an administration at Stormontthat our whole community identifies with and supports.""Jim Allister the TUV leader and a former DUP MEP said he was ""relishing the prospect"" of a general election contestwith his former party. Allister will stand for the TUV in Ian Paisley Sr's North Antrim constituency.""In football terms I see this result as a five to one win for Sinn Fein. They get their date for policing and justice. Secondlytheir veto can be exercised over the justice ministry. They now have working party on Irish language. North/South bodiesare strengthened. And finally there is a stronger north-south parliamentary forum. The DUP only get a view of paradingissues.""Sinn Fein are laughing all the way to the next staging post"" he said.Shaun Woodward the Northern Ireland secretary said the deal was bad news for republican dissidents determined todestabilise the power-sharing government.He said a powerful message was being sent out to the dissidents that there are now ""two groups of people who were onceterrible rivals [who] have found a way through a very big challenge"".But the Real IRA Continuity IRA and Oglaigh na hEireann are unlikely to be moved by the accord at Hillsborough. In thepast seven days the republican dissidents have carried out three gun and bomb attacks on police stations acrossNorthern Ireland.Republican sources have told the Guardian that the groups are likely to intensify their armed campaigns when policingand justice powers are transferred to Belfast."