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News : Paisley Pressed to Retire 
Northern Ireland First Minister Rev. Ian Paisley is under increasing pressure
to stand down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party. Senior party
members reportedly approached Rev. Paisley requesting that he set a date
for retirement so that the DUP could stage “a smooth and orderly
transition” to new leadership.
Deputy leader Peter Robinson is favorite to take over, and an increasing
number of DUP members want Paisley’s successor to be decided well
in advance of a possible general election next year. A by-election in
Banbridge sent the alarm bells ringing. In a major turnaround caused by
a split in the DUP vote, party candidate Paul Stewart lost heavily to
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) candidate Carol Black. Party activists see
that surprise defeat at Banbridge as an ominous sign that the Unionist
electorate is losing faith in the party over its Assembly work with Sinn
Féin.
The DUP’s internal squeeze on the leadership is at odds with Paisley’s
stated intention to stay in office at the Northern Ireland Executive for
a full four-year term, which would take him up to 2011. On a recent visit
to Scotland, the DUP leader would not be drawn into debate about his tenure.
He told a journalist, “I have a fairly hard rhinoceros skin and
I think I will not be skinned by you or the likes of you.”
February has, however, been a difficult month for the Paisley dynasty.
His son, Ian Paisley Jr., resigned as junior minister at Stormont following
controversy surrounding his business connections and lobbying on behalf
of constituents. Had he tried to stay on in the wake of revelations about
personal business ventures, it was felt he would have been ousted from
the Executive by party colleagues. His position as junior minister was
taken by the more hardline Jeffrey Donaldson.
The DUP-Sinn Féin power-sharing arrangement also came under pressure
following a heated House of Commons debate on the murder of Paul Quinn.
During the debate Nigel Dodds, who is likely to become deputy leader of
the DUP, told British premier Gordon Brown that “the horrific murder
of Paul Quinn” had left “a serious shadow over the stability
of devolved institutions in Northern Ireland.”
Quinn, a 21-year-old from the staunchly republican Co. Armagh town of
Cullyhanna, was bludgeoned to death in a Co. Monaghan farmyard by a masked
gang. The Quinn family suspects that republicans in south Armagh and Monaghan
were party to the murder, but Sinn Féin insists that the IRA was
not involved.
Editor’s Note: As we go to press, it has been announced that Rev.
Ian Paisley is to resign as Northern Ireland First Minister and leader
of the Democratic Unionist Party in May. He will remain an MP and N. I.
Assembly member. |
