Paisley, Ian

Ian Paisley (1926–), fundamentalist and unionist political leader, was born in Armagh city on 6 April. His father, a Baptist minister, formed a breakaway congregation in 1933. After training at evangelical colleges in Wales and Belfast, Ian Paisley became minister of an east Belfast fundamentalist congregation in 1946. In 1951 he founded the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, attracting defectors from mainstream Protestant churches. Its non-Presbyterian features include Paisley's status as "moderator for life." (Paisley's ordination is unrecognized by mainstream Presbyterians.) During the 1950s Paisley was active in working-class unionist politics. An outspoken opponent of religious ecumenism and Northern Ireland's prime minister, Terence O'Neill, Paisley was briefly imprisoned for public-order offenses in 1966. Paisley reacted to the civil-rights movement with provocative counter-demonstrations that further destabilized Northern Ireland.

In 1970 Paisley won the Stormont by-election that was prompted by O'Neill's resignation, then took the North Antrim seat at the 1970 Westminster general election. In 1971 he founded the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Throughout the 1970s the DUP grew by denouncing compromise, deploying menacing street protests against any hint of compromise, and outmaneuvering less adroit rival hardliners. (Paisley is frequently accused of inciting loyalists and sanctimoniously dissociating himself when they get caught.) Some officials hoped that Paisley might deliver compromise where moderates had failed, but he remained a reactive and opportunistic figure unwilling to risk his popularity. In 1979 Paisley topped the Northern Ireland poll in the European Parliament elections, his personal popularity far outstripping that of his party. By the 1981 local elections, the DUP had drawn level with the Ulster Unionist Party in votes received and had acquired several talented young activists associated with Paisley's deputy and quasi-rival Peter Robinson. (Paisley's immediate family are prominent in both his party and church.) Paisley dominated the unionist front against the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement; the perceived impotence of his street politics convinced some unionists that they needed to influence future developments by participating in negotiations. Paisley walked out of the talks leading to the 1998 Belfast Agreement, marking the final breakdown of the unionist front. Despite his defeat in the 1998 referendum and health problems, Paisley retained the support of half the unionist community; the DUP benefited by denouncing the Belfast Agreement while taking advantage of devolution. (Paisley characteristically refused ministerial office.) Paisley is seen by international audiences as embodying unionism; his booming Ballymena voice (cultivated as a contrast to the strangulated tones of upper-class unionism) was frequently caricatured. His good-humored image conceals a reactive, irresponsible, and ultimately destructive career.

Paisley, Ian

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