Expert comment: Ian Paisley's political legacy
Release Date 12 September 2014
Professor Geoff Sloan, from the University of Reading's department of politics and international relations, an expert in Anglo-Irish politics, comments on the political legacy of the Rev Dr Ian Paisley, the former First Minister of Northern Ireland, who has died.
Professor Sloan said:
"Always known in Northern Ireland as the ‘Big Man', the Reverend Dr Ian Paisley cast a baleful shadow over politics in that part of the United Kingdom for decades. However,it would be wrong to dismiss him as an Ulster clown as many people did.
"He understood and used to great effect three aphorisms of politics.
"First, he courted attention at all times, his rousing speeches were designed to make him stand out, and they ensured he was always conspicuous. This ploy was sustained through the creation of two institutions, and a veneer of intellect. The Free Presbyterian Church, and the Democratic Unionist Party enabled him to build up and sustain a financial and political base that few of his rivals had. His doctorate (although it was impossible to discern whether he ever submitted a thesis for examination) from the Bob Jones University, in the American bible belt , gave him the intellectual respectability he lacked.
"The second aphorism he used was the creation of a cult-like following. His currency was buried deep in the Ulster protestant DNA: the fear of betrayal. This was used to attack and destroy liberal leaders of Ulster Unionism such as Lord Terence O'Neill and Brian Faulkner. The British political class was bedazzled and appalled in equal measure. The only rival who held him at bay, in an electoral sense, was James Molyneaux the then leader of the rival Ulster Unionist Party.
"Paisley's preaching skills promised deliverance over rationality and clear thinking. Over the years he attempted to save Ulster from sodomy. He claimed he could smell popery as soon as he crossed the border into the Irish Republic. Furthermore, he claimed he knew that his Holiness the Pope wore red socks
"Finally, he understood that timing is everything. At the time of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 he positioned himself at one hand removed from being seen to do a deal with Sinn Fein. He then waited for events and the faltering leadership of David Trimble to carry him and his party to the pole position. He was the last Ulster Unionist leader standing- the field was his."