Ian Paisley was the great divider

From firebrand of bigotry to chuckle brother of power-sharing, Ian Paisley divided opinion to the last just as he had once sought to divide communities.

Some praised him as a man of peace, others questioned why his belated conversion to compromise had taken so long to emerge.

However, no one could doubt the towering shadow he cast across the North — for good and ill — for five long decades, after he passed away at the age of 88 yesterday.