Preacher Turned Politician Was Rarely Silent

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

The Reverend Ian Paisley didn't utter his first words until the age of two. He spent the next 85 years making up for it. The preacher turned politician was rarely silent.

"Never, never, never" - his most famous phrase - thundered through the streets of Belfast in 1985. Hundreds of thousands had gathered to protest when Margaret Thatcher sought closer ties with Dublin.

He may have been loyal to the Queen but was twice detained "at Her Majesty's pleasure". Political protest earned Rev Paisley prison sentences, a reputation and a legion of supporters.

He founded the Democratic Unionist Party and the Free Presbyterian Church. When Pope John Paul II visited the European Parliament, Rev Paisley was expelled for calling him the "anti-Christ".

The gay community incurred his wrath too. With a high-profile campaign entitled "Save Ulster from Sodomy", Ian Paisley resisted the decriminalising of homosexuality in Northern Ireland during the 1970s.

When journalists came knocking, he sometimes asked to smell their breath before answering questions to ensure they had not drunk "the devil's buttermilk". He never gave interviews on "the Sabbath".

By 2007, Northern Ireland had changed and so had the outspoken cleric. He shared power with his enemy, Martin McGuinness. Often pictured laughing together, they were branded, "the Chuckle Brothers".

Rev Paisley protested when Mrs Thatcher sought closer ties with Dublin

On the day they took office together, Ian Paisley said: "If anybody had told me a few years ago that I would be doing this, I would have been unbelieving".

Clandestine protests in the darkness were forgotten but he never lost his sense of humour. During a meeting with the Irish Taoiseach, he requested boiled eggs "because they'd be hard to poison".

Married to Eileen for 57 years, he described Baroness Paisley as his "chief of staff". Criticism of "the big man" always bothered her much more than it did him.

In an interview with Sky News, to mark his 80th birthday in 2006, he said: "I have a hide like a rhinoceros. It doesn't affect me at all. I have tried to be absolutely honest and I believe that's been the secret of my success."

He stepped down as Northern Ireland's First Minister in 2008 and became Lord Bannside. He only retired from preaching ministry in January 2012 and began writing his memoirs.

From protester to peacemaker, Ian Paisley adapted to Northern Ireland's new political landscape.

For the firebrand preacher who eventually shared power, there can only be one epitaph: never say never.

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