UK NEWS

PAISLEY, 81, DECIDES IT’S TIME TO QUIT

Ian Paisley

Wednesday March 5,2008

By Alison Little

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(1)

The veteran protestant leader Ian Paisley is to quit as First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly and as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.

His decision follows mounting pressure from within his party. His announcement came after criticism in his party about pictures of him and Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness joking in public, earning them the nickname the Chuckle Brothers.

I thought it would be a very appropriate time for me to bow out

Ian Paisley

There was also unease about his son, Ian Junior, who was forced to resign from the executive over links to a property developer.

***EXPRESS VIDEO: IAN PAISLEY STEPS DOWN ***

The Reverend Paisley, 81, will quit after an investment conference in Belfast in May organised by the Stormont power-sharing executive. But he will remain an MP and Assembly member.

The long-time Unionist leader said: “I came to this decision a few weeks ago. I thought it would be a very appropriate time for me to bow out.”

He would not be drawn on who would succeed him, saying: “This is not the Church of Rome. This is not Apostolic succession and I have no right to say who will succeed me.”

But DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson may be the favourite.

Mr Paisley’s career has spanned five decades. Regarded as a hardliner and a stern critic of Irish republicanism, he steered his party from the political margins to becoming the biggest group in a power-sharing executive featuring Sinn Fein.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “Progress on bringing a lasting peace to Northern Ireland would not have been possible without his immense courage and leadership.”

IAN PAISLEY - MY ASSESSMENT

05.03.08, 12:35am

Ian Paisley claims to have resigned but there is no doubt in my mind that his former supporters have sacked him.

I used to respect Paisley’s strong principles but not any more. Something sinister happened a few years ago to make this former strong man of principle change his views. Paisley suddenly let down his fellow citizens. He led the Ulster Protestants into capitulating to the Irish Nationalists and he got nothing in return.

Paisley gave up too easily and he betrayed his own supporters.

The same phenomenon is occurring everywhere throughout Great Britain and we can all too clearly see that the collaborator Brown is betraying us all to the EU.

This is all part of the master plan to amalgamate us all into the soft cuddly EU regional structure so that we can all come under Brussels rule.

We elect our national leaders to defend our principles and fight for them if necessary. So, my question is why have all our politicians suddenly become weak and compliant? Why have all our leaders let us down in a big way? Why have they all stopped fighting? Who is making it worth their while to betray us? Who has the money? Whose accounts have not been signed off for years? Is the EU giving all our national leaders a big pay-off or giving them some other hidden benefit to pacify and betray their own people?

If we do not understand our so-called leaders’ motives, we should be questioning them hard. We must not let our leaders get away with treachery or it will be too late to get our country back. We must never give traitors the benefit of the doubt or they will betray us to suit the EU’s cosy agenda.

Paisley capitulated and he is paying the price. Brown and his henchmen should be next in line.