We should all back Paisley’s stance

ALL democrats on this island should be profoundly grateful to Ian Paisley.

He is the only politician of substance who seems capable of keeping his eye on the ball when everyone else gets distracted by deadlines, timetables and grandiose claims about talks in big houses.

Bertie is the master of waffle and fudge and Tony is the master of spin, while Gerry and Martin are masters of both and have to be pushed and dragged along every step on the road to democracy and peace.

Along the way almost all other politicians jettisoned their principles and gave many hostages to fortune in their rush to accommodate Sinn Féin.

Poor David Trimble was conned by Tony and Gerry’s false promises and then left swinging in the wind while his political career and his party went down the tubes.

Through all this, Ian Paisley was steadfast in his principled view that he would not engage with former terrorists until they had demonstrably embraced exclusively democratic means. He simply refused to have any truck with à la carte democrats.

We should be forever grateful to Dr Paisley since late 2004 when he alone refused to jump into bed with Sinn Féin until they had ended all criminal activity, thus saving us and our children from the scourge of a permanent paramilitary-style criminal Mafia.

Dr Paisley has accepted the abolition of majority rule and Dublin’s permanent involvement in Northern Ireland’s affairs. He is now prepared to share power with Sinn Féin provided they support the reformed police force and the rule of law. Surely an essential prerequisite given Sinn Féin’s record up to recent times? All right-thinking democrats should now stand four-square with Ian Paisley and finally drag Sinn Féin across the finishing line.

Dick Keane

35 Silchester Park

Glenageary

Co Dublin