Peter Geoghegan: 'The man who became ultimate symbol of unionist intransigence'

LAST November, at a black tie gala in a London club, the Political Studies Association presented its prestigious "lifetime achievement in politics" award to Ian Paisley.

That the man who once called the Pope the "anti-Christ", the Queen "a parrot", and vowed to "save Ulster from sodomy" was receiving an award previously given to John Hume, Tam Dalyell and Tony Benn was indicative of the Big Man's transition from rabble rouser to respected statesman.

Paisley's decision to retire from his Westminster seat at the next general election brings to a close the parliamentary career of probably the most prominent – and vocal – presence on the Irish political landscape of the past half-century.

For more than four decades Big Ian was the ultimate symbol of unionist intransigence: the firebrand preacher stoking up hot sectarian coals from the pulpit of his Free Presbyterian church on Belfast's Ravenhill Road; the booming voice declaring "Ulster Says No" in response to the Anglo-Irish and Good Friday power-sharing agreements.

Remarkably, Paisley bows out of politics with the Democratic Unionists, the party he founded in 1971, sharing power with republicans in a devolved Northern Irish assembly and a copper-fastened legacy as the man who led "no" unionism in from the political wilderness.

An evangelical preacher for almost 60 years, Paisley's Damascene conversion from "Doctor No" to peacemaker has often been attributed to a combination of intense personal faith and a concern that history might not judge his record as kindly as the voters of North Antrim, whom he represented without interruption from 1970.

Whatever the motivations for his decision to sit down with Sinn Fein in 2006, the subsequent St Andrews Agreement almost certainly saved power-sharing in Northern Ireland and paved the way for the then DUP leader to become first minister.

Much to the incredulity of nationalists on both sides of the Irish border, Paisley went on to build strong, lasting friendships with former adversaries such as Bertie Ahern, the Irish Taoiseach during much of the peace process, and Martin McGuinness, his deputy first minister and former IRA volunteer.

Paisley's departure leaves a sizeable vacuum in Northern Irish politics. Historians will doubtless debate his influence and legacy for years to come, but attention now turns to the battle for succession.

• Peter Geoghegan is the editor of Political Insight magazine.