End of an era as Paisley retires from Stormont
Ian Paisley has bowed out of Stormont with a rousing speech which proved his famed powers of oratory have barely dimmed.
The 84-year-old former First Minister was invited to address the chamber on his last appearance before he steps down as an MLA to focus on the British House of Lords.
The founder and long-time leader of the Democratic Unionist party urged politicians of all hues to work together to ensure a better future for the North's children.
"As we sit in this house today we look back and we have great sorrow and our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved," he said.
"But we have also hope, hope that at long last we will get away from the things in the past that we now deplore and we will go forward with the help of almighty God to a place where we will be proud, all of us, that we are Ulster men and Ulster women and that we have done our best in the most difficult of circumstances to do what we can for the coming generation.
"What you do in the next meeting of this house is going to affect a lot of young people and we want our young people to have a chance in life and all I can say to you all tonight is God bless you, God bless Ulster, God save us from the things that disgrace the name of Christianity and God bring us into an experience where young people will be proud, no matter what their religion is or what their politics is, they will be proud to say I come from Ulster."
The evangelical preacher spent much of his career saying no to powersharing with republicanism but it was his momentous decision to agree to enter government with Sinn Féin in 2007 that may well define his legacy.
He forged a warm working relationship with Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness that developed into a personal friendship. Their bonhomie saw them dubbed the "chuckle brothers" in the year they spent leading the executive.
Mr Paisley has been content with a place on the backbenches since resigning as First Minister and DUP leader in 2008 when he was succeeded by his long-time deputy Peter Robinson.
He told MLAs it was 41 years since he first entered Stormont as an elected representative.
"Now I feel I only look like 41," he joked.
"But that is not so because the facts are against us, we're all moving away from youth to middle age and when we look at one another we've spread a bit in our middle age and of course weakening in our old age."
Mr Paisley said he had never wavered from his belief that all traditions could work together to run the North as long as everyone supported the rule of law.
Sinn Féin's decision to back the new-look Police Service of Northern Ireland paved the way to the restoration of devolution.
Mr Paisley said the fact powersharing had been achieved was because people had been willing to put the country before their political past.
He also had a word for the critics of the institutions.
"There are many Job comforters around, there's moaners and complainers, pessimists and profits of doom with their faces longer than any Lurgan spade - I apologise to the Lurgan people - but for the first time since the collapse of the Northern Ireland parliament (in the 1970s) there is something we can all say, it (the assembly) was democratically elected and it has completed a full term and we're not being thrown out by English politicians, we're going to our people to get a renewed mandate.
"It has been an assembly that has been tested and particularly so when terrorists murdered two soldiers and a police officer (in March 2009) - even in such times the foundation didn't give way.
"Today while we mark this milestone our thoughts and prayers are with the broken hearted of these families."
He added: "There is a job to be done and that job needs to be done, we are facing hard financial times ahead, difficult decisions will have to be taken and as the assembly sits in this place all eyes will be upon it.
"We share this province and we have to make a shared future in it."
Mr McGuinness was quick to praise Mr Paisley's contribution, calling him a friend of the peace process.
"I think my relationship with him will undoubtedly go down in the history books but I want to pay tribute to the leadership he showed," he told MLAs.
"Many people out there have their own views about the past, about my past and about his past, but I think we should be and we are politicians who live for the here and now and for the future and for building a better future for all of the people who we represent."
Mr Robinson also paid tribute to the retiring North Antrim MLA.
"Ian has contributed so much to our community over a very long and distinguished career," he said.
"He was instrumental in laying the foundations for the return of devolution to Northern Ireland and quite simply we would not be here today without his valued contribution."
