Ian Paisley was probably the most fiery, uncompromising and bellicose Ulster politician throughout the Troubles.
But late in life, one of the most turbulent figures in Northern Ireland politics throughout the 20th century underwent a transformation.
The man who constantly declared “No surrender” to Republican views, suddenly agreed to share power in a Northern Ireland Assembly with his arch enemies in Sinn Féin, and hold the top political office alongside former IRA commander and senior Sinn Féin figure Martin McGuinness.
On 8 May 2007, he stood at a rostrum in Stormont, with then British prime minister Tony Blair just behind him, saying: “If anybody had told me a few years ago that I would be doing this I would have been unbelieving.”
On another occasion he had said that Sinn Féin would govern Northern Ireland “over my dead body”.
Paisley, however, said they should never forget the past, but should not allow it to blight future generations.
And then, a few days later he was photographed shaking hands with another arch enemy, then taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and with Stormont’s new deputy First Minister Mr McGuinness.
Supporters of Paisley would deny that all this was a volte face, but it was certainly the most spectacular change of direction witnessed in Northern Ireland in living memory.
The British government had found a way, after years of attempting to bring the two sides together, to provide Northern Ireland, after years of savage conflict, with a power-sharing government.
It was an unbelievable outcome for a region which had been torn apart by decades, even centuries, of sectarian violence and hate.
Given McGuinness’s former role as an IRA leader, it was all the more astonishing to see these two men sharing a joke after years of hatred and bile. Continue reading
Sources
- RTE.ie
- Image: The Telegraph
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