From agitator to statesman – Big Man's epic era is at an end

FOR close to a half-a-century, he has towered over life in Northern Ireland, but, come the end of spring, the province will be without one of its most formidable and divisive political figures.

Only a few years ago, the prospect of Ian Paisley slipping into a quiet retirement, carrying with him the tributes of well-wishers from all sides, seemed so unlikely as to border on farcical.

Here, after all, was a man so set against Catholicism and the papacy that he once hurled snowballs at Taoiseach Sen Lemass during a historic 1965 meeting between the prime ministers of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Just like the parliamentary seat he vacates, the 83-year-old's legacy will doubtless be fiercely contested. But as he prepares to step down from his House of Commons seat for North Antrim, which he has held since 1970, few can doubt that his career is one marked by a remarkable metamorphosis and stark contrasts – some four decades after his attempts to pelt the veteran of the Easter Rising, the "Big Man" of Ulster politics was warmly embracing the latest Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Famed for his firebrand oratory, Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was born in Armagh on 6 April, 1926, and was brought up in Ballymena, Co Antrim, by his father, the Reverend J Kyle Paisley, a dissident Baptist minister, and his mother, Isabella Turnbull, a railway worker's daughter from Stirling. A founding member of the Free Presbyterian Church in Ireland in 1951, his evangelical theology heavily influenced both his way with words and his political views.

Throughout the Troubles he forthrightly denounced Catholicism. The founder and former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party was a fierce critic of power-sharing with nationalists and of the Republic of Ireland having a say in Northern Ireland's affairs, earning him the nickname "Dr No". One of his first actions as an elected politician was to protest about the lowering of the Union Flag at Belfast city hall as a mark of respect over the death of Pope John XXIII.

In 1978, he stood outside protesting when the leader of the Catholic Church in England, Cardinal Basil Hume, held a historic mass at the chapel of parliament.

A decade later, he launched a verbal attack on Pope John Paul II during a visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. "I denounce you, Anti-Christ!" Mr Paisley shouted, before being removed from the chamber.

Politically, he appeared to find fault with every new initiative, whether it was the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, the Good Friday Agreement, the IRA ceasefire of 1994, power-sharing or new forms of governing the province. Steadfastly, he refused to welcome his long-time enemy, Sinn Fein, in from the cold.

At Westminster, he was more than once ordered out of the chamber for using unparliamentary language – he accused ministers of lying – and refusing to withdraw his remarks.

Over the periods when direct rule was imposed from London, successive Northern Ireland secretaries had to endure his wrath and piledriver rhetoric. He stoutly resisted any agreement which he believed would extend the influence of the Irish Republic into the affairs of Northern Ireland.

Yet in the twilight years of his political life, Mr Paisley embarked on a journey which transformed him in the eyes of some from agitator to statesman and fundamentalist street demonstrator to peacemaker, culminating in his entering office with Sinn Fein.

His decision to accept the position of first minister alongside deputy first minister and former IRA commander Martin McGuinness in 2007 saw him hailed as a peacemaker by moderates, but criticised by many former followers who accused him of betraying Ulster. However, in May of that year, when devolution was restored with Mr Paisley as first minister, he told the Northern Ireland Assembly: "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."

His strong views in Westminster since 2001 against the introduction of ID cards showed a libertarian streak, while his votes against student top-up fees are perhaps a nod to his own largely working-class Protestant supporters. Symbolic of his new-found respectability was his tribute in the Commons to outgoing prime minister Tony Blair in June 2007. He said Mr Blair had treated him with the greatest courtesy despite their many disagreements.

Mr Paisley, father to twin sons and three daughters, stood down as first minister in 2008. He was replaced by his long-time DUP deputy leader, Peter Robinson. Similar to his withdrawal from Westminster, he will not seek re-election to the Northern Ireland assembly next year.