Rev Ian Paisley (6th April 1926 – 12th September 2014)
One of the men that finally brought peace to Northern Ireland died today. Ian Paisley was the man who always said NO until he said YES to sharing power with what was believed to be his sworn enemy. By sharing power with former IRA boss Martin McGuinness. It was a monumental event and had many people dumbfounded that these people could share a room much less power in a disputed region.
The fact that they did gave fresh impetus to other regions throughout the world in which intractable situations need to be settled for the good of the people. One of the reason why his sharing of power with Martin McGuinness could take place was that he had a long history in violent Protestantism, helping to form a number of groups who’s aim was to ‘defend’ Unionist from Catholicism and Republicanism.
He became Councillor, MP and MEP and was extremely popular with his constituencies including the Catholic members of his district. After giving previous Union and Protestant leaders grief when they tried to share power with Republicans and Catholics he surprised everyone by not only agreeing to share power with Sinn Fein he also seemed to enjoy sharing power with the Republicans. In fact Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness were called the ‘Chuckle Brothers’ after a children TV act because of the amount of laughing they did.
His funeral will be private.