Paisley’s greatest hits

BORN UNDER a wandering star, probably anyway, Ian Richard Kyle Paisley came into this world on April 26, 1926. Today, some 83 years later, he signalled his intention to step down as member of parliament for the North Antrim constituency, effectively signalling the end of his political career. The son of Baptist minister James Kyle Paisley, Ian followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a man of the cloth, but his impact would be a lot more significant than that of his father.

– 1951 Founds the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster after Down Presbytery bans his gospel mission from its hall, giving the space over to a dance instead. The church never actually adopts an internal Presbyterian polity and has little claim to the name.

– 1954 Receives doctorate from the illegal American Pioneer Theological Seminary in Rockville, Illinois. Later receives honorary doctorate from legal but unaccredited Bob Jones University.

– 1956 Involved in founding of Ulster Protestant Action, a violent paramilitary group formed of extremist Christian members of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

– 1964 Demands police remove a tricolour from the window of a Sinn Féin office in Divis Street, near the Falls Road in Belfast. A loyalist mob follows the RUC doing so and local residents retaliate. Two days of rioting begin. This single event prefigures the entire thirty–year long conflict that would follow.

– 1966 Reconstitutes Ulster Protestant Action, renaming it the Protestant Unionist Party.

– 1965 Throws snowballs at taoiseach Sean Lemass when he visits to Stormont parliament in Belfast.

– 1968 Blocks a peaceful march on October 9 led by People’s Democracy, a socialist group seeking equal rights for Catholics. On November 9, leads a loyalist march with Ronald Bunting (a gadfly unionist politician and former supporter of Republican Labour whose son Ronnie would go on to become an Official IRA and then INLA member). On November 30, Paisley and Bunting block another civil rights march. Bunting would go on, in 1969, to lead the bloody clashes against the civil rights movement in Burntollet.

– 1969 Jailed for three months (along with Bunting) for public order offences related to the above.

– 1970 Elected member of parliament for North Antrim.

– 1971 Renames Protestant Unionist Party as the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

– 1972 Opposes the suspension of the Northern Ireland parliament by British prime minister Edward Heath.

– 1974 Active in the so–called Ulster Workers’ Council strike, a loyalist paramilitary–enforced general strike which ground the North to a halt on the basis of opposition to a non–sovereign role for the ‘Council of Ireland’ called for under the Sunningdale Agreement. On May 7, 1974 car bombs explode in Dublin and Monaghan killing 33 people – the single largest death toll of any incident during the conflict. In 2008 the Irish government announced it had concluded the British government was involved in the attacks and the bombs were described by the Oireachtas Committee on Justice as “an act of international terrorism colluded in by British security forces.”

– 1977 Declares he will retire from politics if United Unionist Action Council general strike was unsuccessful. The strike fails. Paisley fails to retire.

– 1977 Launches anti–gay ‘Save Ulster from Sodomy’ campaign in an attempt to stop the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

– 1979 Elected as one of three Euro MPs for the North. Holds this position until he stood down in 2004.

- 1980 Kincora Boys’ Home child sex abuse scandal erupts. Among others William McGrath, a member of both the fascist loyalist group Tara and the Free Presbyterian Church is changed with and convicted of child abuse. McGrath had contacts with senior British establishment figures including spy Anthony Blunt. Paisley is censured for allegedly not doing enough to remove McGrath from his position. The scandal results in homosexuals being banned from caring roles by the Eastern Health and Social Services Board. Several entirely innocent people were summarily dismissed for being gay.

– 1981 Appears on a hillside in the dead of night with 500 men brandishing firearms licences.

– 1985 Leads, along with Ulster Unionist Party leader James Molyneaux, ‘Ulster Says No’ demonstration of over 100,000 people to Belfast City Hall. The protest is against the so–called Anglo–Irish Agreement, a treaty that gave the Irish Government a non–sovereign advisory role in the North’s affairs. An ‘Ulster Says No’ banner would hang in front of Belfast City Hall until well into the 1990s.

– 1986 Speaks at a rally in the Ulster Hall of the need for a ‘Third Force’ to fight against republicans. Paisley then dramatically places a Red Beret on his head and stands to attention. Paramilitary group Ulster Resistance is founded. Group attracts some ultra–conservative rural support but fades relatively quickly.

– 1987 Arrested in Stormont protesting the British–Irish intergovernmental conference after scuffles break out with police.

– 1988 Kicked–out of an EU parliament meeting being addressed by the Pope after shouting, “I refuse you as Christ’s enemy and Antichrist with all your false doctrine.”

– 1993 Vociferously opposes the ‘Downing Street Declaration’ issued by taoiseach Albert Reynolds and British prime minister John Major because of its ‘Irish dimension’, defined as “the principle that the people of the island of Ireland, North and South had the exclusive right to solve the issues between North and South by mutual consent.” The declaration led to an IRA ceasefire on August 31, 1994, followed by a loyalist ceasefire on October 13.

– 1994 Declares UUP leader James Molyneaux “Judas Iscariot” and “Lundy” (a loyalist term for traitor dating back to the Siege of Derry) for his willingness to deal with the Dublin government.

– 1995 Performs dance now known as the ‘victory jig’ along with new UUP leader David Trimble after forcing an Orange march down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown against the wishes of the residents.

– 1998 Opposes Belfast Agreement and calls Queen Elizabeth II “Blair’s parrot.” DUP ministers later join government but refuse to work with Sinn Féin and rotate ministries. Becomes agriculture chair and is praised by Sinn Féin for his work.

– 2003 Leads the DUP to outpoll the UUP for the first time in history.

– 2005 Cements lead over UUP, taking nine seats at the Westminster parliament and unseating UUP leader David Trimble. DUP becomes fourth largest party in Westminster.

– 2005 Appointed privy councillor.

– 2005 Sparks loyalist rioting when he objects to the rerouting of 75 metres of an Orange march taking place in republican area of west Belfast. Says of the parade, rerouting could be “the spark which kindles a fire there could be no putting out”. Snipers and Orangemen attack police.

– 2007 Accepts position of first minister of Northern Ireland Assembly. Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness serves as deputy first minister. Becomes oldest serving MP.

– 2008 Stands down as first minister

– 2009 Treated to a ridiculous soft–ball interview on Irish radio station Newstalk by presenter George Hook.