Free Republic

During his long career both in parliaments and on pulpits, Ian Paisley was compared to Ayatollah Khomeini, a second-rate Calvin who tried to turn Ulster into a 17th-century Geneva and, latterly, one of the Chuckle Brothers from the BBC children's comedy show. The last nickname came about during his years in office as Northern Ireland's first minister, when Paisley stunned friends and foes alike by forming a double-act in government with the former IRA chief of staff Martin McGuinness.

September 12, 2014 Northern Ireland Firebrand Ian Paisley Dead At 88 DUBLIN -- The Rev. Ian Paisley, the divisive Protestant firebrand who devoted his life to thwarting compromise with Catholics in Northern Ireland only to become a pivotal peacemaker in his twilight years, died Friday in Belfast, his wife said. He was 88. Paisley was Northern Ireland's most polarizing politician throughout its three decades of civil strife, during which the evangelist's blistering oratory was often blamed for fueling the bloodshed that claimed 3,700 lives. Yet at the zenith of his peace-wrecking powers, Paisley in 2007 stunned the world by delivering...

The Rev Ian Paisley, Protestant firebrand and former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, has died at the age of 88. The Rev Paisley served as First Minister of Northern Ireland for a year when power was first devolved in 2007. His deputy, Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, expressed sadness at the news of his death. “Over a number of decades we were political opponents and held very different views on many, many issues but the one thing we were absolutely united on was the principle that our people were better able to govern themselves than any British government,” he...

Just a week after a scandal was sparked by a preacher slating Islam as "satanic", a second preacher has launched a broadside against the faith. The minister at Lord Bannside's former church, Martyr's Memorial Free Presbyterian in east Belfast, has blasted Islam as a "violent intolerant wicked religion". The Rev Ian Brown was speaking at a recent Sunday evening service in defence of Pastor James McConnell, whom he described as a "prophet". The Free Presbyterian minister told his flock last Sunday evening he felt the situation had become "thoroughly ridiculous". In an sermon posted on the Martyr's Memorial website, Rev...

Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley is to stand down from the post in May, he has announced. He also said he would be resigning as leader of the DUP, a party he has led for almost 40 years. He will continue as MP and MLA for North Antrim. Mr Paisley became first minister in May 2007 following the suspension of direct rule after a period of five years. "Unionists are no longer protesting against a London/Dublin deal with which we have no truck," he said. "We are inside the building administering British rule over Northern Ireland." Mr Paisley, who...

DUBLIN, Ireland: The Rev. Ian Paisley, who has angered many of his Protestant faithful by forming a Northern Ireland government with a former IRA commander, is stepping down as leader of the hard-line church he founded 56 years ago. The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster said Paisley would step down rather than face possible ouster following the church's annual meeting, which began Friday night and ran into early Saturday. "Dr. Paisley has indicated that he will not be standing for the office of moderator of presbytery," said a statement from the meeting. Paisley, 81, for decades has been re-elected unopposed...

DAN Brown’s bestseller, The Da Vinci Code, was first published in 2003. By April 2005 it had sold 17 million copies in 44 languages and it is still selling well, as any traveller by plane, bus or train will confirm. It is a novel of the popular, conspiracy theory type. The central thesis is that “the Church” has covered up the fact that Mary Magdalene married Christ. Christ’s divinity was a myth invented by Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD and the pair had descendants. Brown suggests that Mary Magdalene’s character was unjustly impugned by “the Church” in...

NORTHERN Ireland's biggest Protestant party overnight ruled out sharing power with its rival Catholic counterpart, dealing a serious blow to hopes the semi-autonomous government could be restored following disarmament by the IRA. There was "no prospect of an executive including Sinn Fein/IRA for the foreseeable future", Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said, referring to the now officially defunct Catholic paramilitary group and its political wing. "In keeping with our manifesto commitments, the DUP will not countenance an executive in Northern Ireland that is inclusive of those who are not committed to explicitly peaceful and democratic means," he...

BELFAST (Reuters) - The IRA admitted on Friday to the 1973 killing of a teenage girl that it had blamed on the British army and apologised to her family who had called on the paramilitaries to accept responsibility. Kathleen Feeney was shot dead near her home in Londonderry. At the time, the IRA, which put its violent, 30-year campaign against British rule on hold in 1997, blamed British soldiers for the 14-year-old's murder. "We wish to apologise unreservedly to the Feeney family for the death of Kathleen and all the grief that our actions have caused to them," the IRA...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -- The United States has demanded that the IRA disband after the guerrilla group's astonishing offer to shoot the killers of a murdered Northern Ireland Catholic man. "It's time for the IRA to go out of business," U.S. special envoy Mitchell Reiss said Wednesday. For the IRA's political ally Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland's biggest Irish nationalist party, the U.S. demand was yet another blow to its democratic credentials. Reiss told BBC radio: "It's time for Sinn Fein to be able to say explicitly, without ambiguity, without ambivalence, that criminality will not be tolerated. "You can't sign...

The killers of an Irish police officer will be recommended for early release if there is a comprehensive deal in Northern Ireland.Garda Jerry McCabe was killed in 1996 Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Irish Parliament that he will recommend that the four men be freed as part of a settlement to secure IRA decommissioning. Detective Jerry McCabe was shot dead by the IRA during a robbery in County Limerick in 1996. Four men were convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 11 to 14 years. IRA leadership Responding to a question by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, Mr Ahern said: "As...