Ian Paisley: An uncompromising man who finally learned to compromise

Ian Paisley was probably the most fiery, uncompromising and bellicose Ulster politician throughout the Troubles, who late in life underwent a transformation.

The man who constantly declared “No surrender” to Republican views, suddenly agreed to share power in a Northern Ireland Assembly with his arch enemies in Sinn Fein, and hold the top political office alongside former IRA commander and senior Sinn Fein figure Martin McGuinness.

On May 8, 2007, he stood at a rostrum in Stormont, with Tony Blair just behind him, saying: “If anybody had told me a few years ago that I would be doing this I would have been unbelieving.”