The Guardian runs through some of Ian Paisley Snr’s more famous, and infamous, moments in the spotlight in its profile of the current leader of the DUP today.”The lifelong outsider now leads unionism” according to the Guardian and, echoing Malachi O’Doherty’s Belfast Telegraph piece from a few weeks ago, points out that “any agreement must carry Paisley’s stamp if it is to be sold to the unionist people”.
But it’s not all soft-focus for Ian Paisley Snr. The article carries quotes from an unnamed ‘Northern Ireland office official’, “Where there’s death, there’s hope”, and from Roy Garland, “He would like to be seen as a responsible, constructive, almost statesmanlike figure but he hasn’t been either responsible or statesmanlike for most of his life”.
Ian Paisley Jnr is, not unexpectedly, more supportive – “Most of all, he doesn’t want his legacy to be a bad deal. He wants the right deal with the right people at the right time. He doesn’t want a settlement with Republicans, he wants a victory for peace.”
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