‘I’ve always been proud of dad – and proud to bear his name’

David McKittrick celebrates the twelfth with an interview with IP jnr in the Indy.The lot’s worth a read but 2 nice vignettes:
“…..At one stage Paisley Jr toyed with journalism, but his destiny was to follow in his father’s giant footsteps. He took a degree in history followed by a master’s in Irish politics, areas of study which help explain why, among the caricatures on his office wall, is one of Charles Stewart Parnell.

Parnell was a Protestant, but no unionist and is today revered as one of Irish history’s great leaders. “A Protestant nationalist,” Paisley described him with enthusiasm. “An incredibly interesting character.””
And:
“Paisley Jr concluded on a positive note: “We need to draw a line so we can move forward. Sinn Fein can present their analysis and I can present mine and we can argue over it, but meanwhile the country doesn’t move forward. We really need to get the focus right; to direct all our politicians’ energies and effort into making this place really work and make it the envy of many other European states.

“If we do that we will be eternally thanked by the collective community of Northern Ireland””

Dewi

Welsh Nationalist. Rugby Fan. Know a bit about History and Railways…