Ian Richard Kyle Paisley

Background

Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was born on April 6, 1926 in Armagh, County Armagh, and brought up in the town of Ballymena, County Antrim. His father James Kyle Paisley was an Independent Baptist pastor who had previously served in the Ulster Volunteers under Edward Carson.

Career

Dismissed as a rabble-rousing bigot in established Unionist and Orange circles, he eventually challenged these with his own version of both political party and Orange Order.

In 1951 he acquired local notoriety by adopting the cause of Maura Lyons, a 15-year-old Catholic girl who left her home to join his church. His reputation widened when he protested in Rome against the Second Vatican Council in 1962, and the following year he opposed the lowering of the Belfast City Hall flag in respect at the death of Pope John XXIII. With growing momentum his politico-religious drive mounted in the 1966: against the tricolor of the Irish Republic being used in the 1964 election campaign; against better relations with the Republic on the occasion of Dublin premier Sean Lemass's visit to Belfast in January 1965; against Terence O'Neill's conciliatory and modernizing policies; against the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1966; against the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association in 1968, and against the Peoples Democracy movement in 1969.

In all he mobilized the genuine fears of working people that their traditional safeguards within the United Kingdom and against Catholic clerical influence were being undermined.

In 1969 he unsuccessfully challenged Terence O'Neill in the latter's Bannside constituency, but after O'Neill's retirement in 1970 Paisley won the seat and held it till the end of the Northern Ireland Parliament in 1972. He also entered Westminster as Member of Parliament for North Antrim in 1970.

From the mid-1986 through the mid-19906 Paisley's presence continued to make an impact. In 1985 he addressed the founding meeting of Ulster Resistance, whose members were later involved in arms deals. In October 1988 he was beaten and removed from a European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg, France, after displaying a sign that read "John Paul II Antichrist" as the Pope spoke. The Clinton administration in the United States prohibited Paisley from visiting the White House due to his militantly anti-Catholic attitudes. Paisley's uncompromising viewpoints have mostly served him well. His popularity was demonstrated in 1989 when he received more votes to the European Parliament than any politician in United Kingdom electoral history. In the subsequent European Parliament election of 1994, he obtained more than in 1989. Paisley remained a forceful spokesman and magnet for the right wing, responsible for compelling many of his opponents to become more conservative.

Meanwhile, the two extremes in Northern Ireland continued to feed each other. The moderate majority, unable to unite, was condemned to endure their conflict.

In November 2011, Paisley announced to his congregation, which he had led for over 60 years, that he would retire as minister. He delivered his final sermon to a packed attendance at the Martyrs' Memorial Hall on 18 December 2011, and finally retired from his religious ministry at the age of 85, on 27 January 2012.

Achievements

• In 1966 he had founded his Protestant Unionist Party (to become the Democratic Unionist Party in 1971), a couple of shadowy organizations-the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee and the Ulster Protestant Volunteers-and the Protestant Telegraph, a publication promoting anti-Catholic and anti-nationalist virulence. In 2007, Paisley was named as "Opposition Parliamentarian of the Year" in The House Magazine Parliamentary Awards and by The Spectator as "Marathon Man of the Year. " On 18 June 2010, Paisley was created a life peer as Baron Bannside, of North Antrim in the County of Antrim, and he was introduced in the House of Lords on 5 July 2010.

Works

More photos

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  • Sermons on Special Occasions (Ian R.K.Paisley Library)

    (Sermons preached on special occasions that span a unique ...)

  • Into the Millennium : 20th Century Messages for 21st Century Living

    (20th Century messages for 21st Century living. Includes: ...)

  • For Such a Time as This

    (This volume opens a window on the life of Dr. Paisley. It...)

  • The Garments of Christ (Ian R.K.Paisley Library)

    (Sermons on the wardrobe of Christ. These sermons were pre...)

  • Divine Intervention in the Days of Declension: Studies in the Book of Judges

    (Studies in the book of Judges)

  • Text a Day Keeps the Devil Away

    (Dr. Paisley succinctly expounds one verse for each day of...)

  • Paisley's pocket preacher: Thumbnail gospel sermons
  • Billy Graham and the Church of Rome
  • Three great reformers
  • The Ulster Problem (Spring 1972) - A Discussion of the True Situation in Northern Ireland
  • Ian Paisley: Voice of Protestant Ulster
  • Why I am a Protestant (Ravenhill pulpit sermons;23)

Religion

His father, a Baptist minister, ordained him in 1946 when he was 20 years old and by 1951 the young Paisley felt able to found his own church, the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, and to make himself its moderator.

Publicity was gained by outbursts against Catholicism and the "Romeward" inclinations he attributed to other Protestant churches, and he rose to prominence attacking both ecumenism and the granting of full civil rights to a disadvantaged sector that was largely Roman Catholic.

Politics

After the fall of the Belfast Parliament in March 1972, Paisley became a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (1973 - 1975), where he opposed the Sunningdale agreement which provided for a power-sharing executive worked out by Brian Faulkner.

He subsequently became a member of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, which he and his United Ulster Unionist Council dominated during its short lifetime, 1975-1976.

In 1979 he became Democratic Unionist Member of the European Parliament for Northern Ireland, topping the poll in this three-seat constituency. These considerable political successes were accompanied by the expansion of his church organization, which grew in numbers and locations.

Views

Though his school education did not prepare him for university entrance, his biblical scholarship was respected and his An Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans Prepared in a Prison Call is well regarded. A powerful preacher with a dominating physique and voice, he played on traditional anti-Catholicism and emphasized biblical fundamentalism, always being outspoken and always seeing himself in historic roles. A practiced television performer, quick to make a telling phrase or newsworthy comment, he kept his profile high, bringing his wrath to bear on familiar targets: London-Dublin talks of any kind; Catholic influences in the European Union; Catholic characteristics of the Irish Republic; any power-sharing arrangement with nationalists inside Northern Ireland; and British security policy in Northern Ireland, which he always labeled half-hearted and ineffective.

He himself advocated armed preparedness and dabbled with a "Third Force" vigilante movement to protect loyalists. Paisley helped to make the Northern Ireland Assembly of James Prior work, although he opposed its "cross-community support" requirements and argued for the devolution of increased powers to a majority party. He was able to present a more statesmanlike image, the colorful phrase and witty aside disarming his critics, his firm determination to uphold the Union and biblical truth continuing to inspire his followers. His wife Eileen (married in 1951) and three of their four children played supporting political roles. Yet to many observers he still epitomized the bigotry and violence of Protestant extremism which fueled an equal Catholic extremism. Many pointed to the image of Northern Ireland he helped to create-an image of bitterness and intransigence-which repelled potential friends and served well the propaganda of his avowed enemies. His destructive successes-including a large share in ending the premiership of Terence O'Neill-were visible: positive achievements were harder to discern.

Quotations: The rally was addressed by Paisley and Molyneaux. In his address, Paisley famously stated:

"Where do the terrorists operate from? From the Irish Republic! Where do the terrorists return to for sanctuary? To the Irish Republic! And yet Mrs Thatcher tells us that that Republic must have some say in our Province. We say Never! Never! Never! Never!"

"If the British government force us down the road to a united Ireland we will fight to the death! [. .. ] This could come to hand-to-hand fighting in every street in Northern Ireland. We are on the verge of civil war [. .. ] We are asking people to be ready for the worst and I will lead them. "

Paisley addressed a rally at Drumcree, telling a crowd of thousands:

"We will die if necessary rather than surrender! If we don't win this battle all is lost. It is a matter of life and death; it is a matter of Ulster or the Irish Republic; it is a matter of freedom or slavery!"

The papers show that Paisley had indicated he could "reach an accommodation with leaders of the Catholic minority, which would provide the basis of a new government in Stormont. " It appears that the move was rejected once it became clear to the SDLP that it would have created a very one-sided alliance. Speaking about the deal in 2002 Paisley said:

"The SDLP did not want to go along the road that we would have wanted them to go. I wouldn't say there were talks, there was an exchange of views between us, but it never got anywhere. We were prepared to try and seek a way whereby we could govern Northern Ireland and that people of both faiths could be happy with the way it was being governed, but it all rested on the key point – the person with power would be the person that the people gave the power. "

Membership

Paisley was a former member of the Orange Order and belonged to a similar Protestant brotherhood: the Apprentice Boys.

Connections

Paisley married Eileen Cassells on 13 October 1956. They had five children, daughters Sharon, Rhonda and Cherith and twin sons, Kyle and Ian. Three of their children followed their father into politics or religion: Kyle is a Free Presbyterian minister; Ian is a DUP MP; and Rhonda, a retired DUP councillor. He had a brother, Harold, who is also an evangelical fundamentalist.

Father:

James Kyle Paisley

Wife:

Eileen Cassells

Daughter:

Rhonda Paisley

Daughter:

Sharon Paisley

Daughter:

Cherith Paisley

Son:

Ian Paisley

Son:

Kyle Paisley

Brother:

Harold Paisley

References

• Paisley: Religion and Politics in Northern Ireland
• Ian Paisley: My Father
• Paisley
• Paisley Man of Destiny
• The Fall of the House of Paisley: The Downfall of Ian Paisley’s Political Dynasty
• Ian Paisley: A Life in Photographs