LONDON
Ian Paisley, one of the most controversial figures to emerge from the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ has died at the age of 88.
Paisley was a leading figure in the pro-British ‘unionist’ movement and mixed politics with extreme Protestantism in the troubled region. In later years, he stunned his supporters by entering a power-sharing government with former Irish Republican Army insurgents who had waged a 30-year armed campaign to end British rule in Ireland.
Born in 1926, Ian Paisley was a fundamentalist Protestant clergyman who developed a line in firey, ‘old-time’ religious preaching. He was elected as a member of the British parliament in 1970 and was the founder of his own hardline Democratic Unionist Party, staunchly opposed to any moves to take Northern Ireland out of the U.K.
Paisley became a vocal and divisive figure in the Troubles – a three-decade conflict between mainly Protestant unionists seeking to remain in the U.K. and Catholic republicans, seeking a re-united, independent Ireland.
Paisley once said that Catholics “breed like rabbits and multiply like vermin.” Following attacks on Catholic homes he justified the assaults by saying: “Catholic homes caught fire because they were loaded with petrol bombs; Catholic churches were attacked and burned because they were arsenals and priests handed out sub-machine guns to parishioners.”
An unshakable Protestant ideologue, in 1988 Paisley heckled Pope John Paul II at the European Parliament, shouting at the bemused Pontiff: "I denounce you, Antichrist! I refuse you as Christ's enemy and Antichrist with all your false doctrine.”
He was forcibly removed from the parliament for the session.
For years, the DUP refused to negotiate with Irish republican opponents. Paisley was often nicknamed ‘Dr. No’, a dual barb referring to his inflexible opposition to Irish nationalism and his 1966 honorary doctorate from the Bob Jones University, South Carolina.
His fiery oratory – perfected by years of Gospel preaching – was heard in full force during a well-known speech delivered outside Belfast City Hall in 1985 to tens of thousands of pro-British loyalists. Rejecting the proposed ‘Anglo-Irish Agreement’ being offered by London and Dublin, Paisley told flag-waving supporters that his answer to unity with the Republic of Ireland was: “Never, never, never, never…”
Paisley had a history of opposing political agreements and was known as an uncompromising figure. He opposed the U.S.-backed Good Friday Agreement of 1998 which brought an end to most violence in the region.
“I am not going to sit down with bloodthirsty monsters who have been killing and terrifying my people,” was Paisley’s response to demands that he negotiate with Sinn Fein – the political fellow travellers of the Irish Republican Army.
However, in 2007 Paisley and his party agreed to share power with Sinn Fein in an autonomous compromise parliament in Belfast, a complete rejection of his earlier career.
Ian Paisley became Northern Ireland’s First Minister alongside former Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness – a former IRA leader.
“If anybody had told me a few years ago that I would be doing this, I would have been unbelieving," said Paisley after agreeing to enter a power-sharing government with his old foes.
On the eve of being sworn in as First Minister of the power-sharing government he said: “People have come out of a dark tunnel and they can see there is a path out there for us. I think it has put a lot of faith and hope into people.”
In his inaugural speech, he said: “I believe that Northern Ireland has come to a time of peace, a time when hate will no longer rule. How good it will be to be part of a wonderful healing in our province.”
However, Paisley remained unrepentant for his past and previously uncompromising ways.
Despite their years of opposition, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness expressed his sadness at Paisley’s passing on Friday.
He said that he “learned with deep regret and sadness of the death of former First Minister the Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley."
“Over a number of decades we were political opponents and held very different views on many, many issues but the one thing we were absolutely united on was the principle that our people were better able to govern themselves than any British government.”
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