Historic ‘yes’ sticks in Dr No’s throat

FOR years, the Rev Ian Paisley has been dubbed “Dr No” by his political opponents.

The 78-year-old Democratic Unionist leader has carved out a career saying no to the Catholic Church and no to meetings between unionists and Irish heads of state. He even said no to line dancing.

Yesterday should have been different. The DUP leader hoped to tell his party executive he was saying yes to a deal which would have seen the IRA complete disarmament.

The deal would also have allowed Sinn Féin and the DUP to head a power sharing executive with responsibility over farms, roads, schools and hospitals.

But this time it was the IRA who said no - no to photographic evidence of decommissioning.

Born in Ireland’s ecclesiastical capital of Armagh on April 26, 1926. At the age of 16, he preached his first sermon and, in 1951, he established the Free Presbyterian Church on Belfast’s Ravenhill Road.

In 1963, he organised an illegal march on Belfast City Hall to protest against the lowering of the Union flag following the death of Pope John XXIII and was fined £10.

A year later, he protested against an Irish tricolour in west Belfast, resulting in its removal by the RUC and rioting from republicans, including Gerry Adams.

Fast forward 40 years and you get a sense of just how close the North Antrim MP has come to turning assumptions about him upside down.

He has toyed with the previously unthinkable idea of him becoming First Minister in an executive featuring republicans.

Even more remarkable is the prospect that former IRA commander Martin McGuinness may yet one day serve alongside him as Deputy First Minister.

Republicans were not convinced yesterday that the DUP was ready to strike a deal.

A source said: “Here we had the best deal a unionist leader ever got with the IRA preparing not just to put weapons beyond use but actually talking about ending physical force republicanism... But rather than take that, the DUP has said it wants to humiliate the IRA. Ian Paisley has opted for a photograph for purely electoral purposes.”

Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern will be anxious to build on what has been achieved in recent negotiations. The task facing them is huge. It means persuading the IRA that photographs of decommissioning are not humiliation.

But it also means trying to ensure Dr No can be turned into the political equivalent of that other famous orangeman, the Man from Del Monte.