[tom8517]

Interesting article in the Belfast telegraph the other day. It recounts an interview Ian Paisley gave to RTE in the early 1970's. Paisley was asked if there was anyway he would ever consider reunification with the south. To everyone's complete shock, Paisley replied that under different circumstances, yes he would.

The great enemy of Paisley's life was not Irish republicanism, it was Roman Catholicism. While Ian had a somewhat medieval fear of an all powerful papacy, his fears where not entirely unfounded considering the influence the Catholic church had in the republic in 1969. While he was a loyalist, his motivation was in his own words , maintaining a "Protestant way of life for Protestant people".

Another of the many ironies surrounding politics in the north is that the Catholic church shares the DUP views on abortion and same sex marriage. Small wonder that progress is so hard to come by.