In 1971, Paisley founded the Democratic Unionist party, which supports total integration of Northern Ireland into the United Kingdom. He supported a strike by Protestant workers that brought the collapse (1974) of the new coalition executive council and the reimposition of direct British rule. In 1985 he accused British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of treachery when she signed the Anglo-Irish accord, giving Ireland consultative rights in the government of Northern Ireland, and he opposed the 1998 Northern Irish peace accord, which allowed Sinn Féin to participate in the Northern Irish government.
Paisley was elected to the Northern Irish assembly in 1999, and his party won a plurality of seats in that body in 2003 and 2007. Following the 2007 elections, Paisley agreed to enter a power-sharing government with Sinn Féin, which had become the largest Catholic party in the assembly; Paisley became first minister. He retired as first minister and party leader in 2008.
See biographies by E. Moloney and A. Pollak (1986) and C. Smyth (1987).
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Licensed from Columbia University Press
(born April 6, 1926, Armagh, County Armagh, N.Ire.) Protestant leader in Northern Ireland. After being ordained in the Reformed Presbyterian church (1946), he cofounded a new sect, the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster (1951), which soon grew to more than 30 churches. In the 1960s he became the voice of extreme Protestant opinion in the sectarian strife of Northern Ireland, being opposed to any concessions to Roman Catholics. He led demonstrations throughout Northern Ireland and was repeatedly imprisoned for unlawful assembly. Elected to the House of Commons in 1970, he cofounded the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in 1971 and also organized a paramilitary group of Protestant fighters called the Third Force. In 1998 he opposed the Good Friday Agreement, which called for power sharing between Roman Catholics and Protestants. He won a seat in the new Northern Ireland Assembly that the accord established, though he continued to refuse to participate in negotiations with Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the early 21st century, however, as the IRA distanced itself from violence, and as Sinn Féin's political power grew, Paisley made modest overtures to the party. Following the 2007 elections, in which the DUP won 36 seats and Sinn Féin 28, the two parties reached a historic agreement to form a power-sharing government. On May 8, 2007, Paisley became first minister of Northern Ireland. In June 2008 he stepped down as first minister and as head of the DUP.
Learn more about Paisley, Ian (Richard Kyle) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
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