Paisley was elected as a spokesman for a community that were fiercely loyal to this country and scared to death that they would be sold out by British politicians to live under a catholic dominated Eire.
The history of the struggles each side in that troubled land faced go back for centuries - each side with its own heroes and villans.
As much as I would like to be as biggoted as the majority on here, I find I cannot.
Paisley sat down and shared government in NI with former catholic terrorists who had killed and maimed thousands, and they sat down with HIM.
I walked the streets of Belfast with a rifle in my hands and I saw the problems that both sides of the divide faced on a daily basis.
over 1700 security forces were killed in NI during the 30 odd years of Op Banner - many of them were part time soldiers killed at their regular place of work while off duty.
Innocent civilians were murdered by both catholic & protestant paramilitaries with no regard for common decency.
Bombings took place nearly every day - some days as many as 30 significant bombs in one day alone. Outrages were committed throughout Europe in the name of 'Freedom', yet if any of you were pressed to name just one incident, I am willing to bet that the majority of you would be only able to come up with Bloody Sunday.
I find this sort of knee-jerk reaction to any mention of NI and its leading figures to be somewhat indicative of the general ignorance displayed in the postings above.
Guests should NOT be allowed to post, and this thread should be closed.
Sorry if this is a bit garbled - but I get carried away on this subject.