Paisley proves he never meant business

IAN PAISLEY’S assertion, on his 79th birthday, that he will never speak with the elected representatives of the majority of Northern nationalists in any circumstances shows he was never serious about sharing power.

His sackcloth-and-ashes demand of republicans was meant to scupper a peace deal last December.

If the DUP continues to reject the Good Friday agreement, the only fair and reasonable alternative is to reactivate those parts of the agreement that unionists cannot veto, eg, full implementation of the human rights section and the Patten proposals on policing and the re-establishment of the all-Ireland bodies. This will require the active engagement of the Government.