Ian Paisley, the man who finally said Yes, to step down as Stormont leader

THE Rev Ian Paisley's "absolutely historic role" in restoring devolved government to Northern Ireland was hailed last night as he announced he was to step down as the province's First Minister and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.

Mr Paisley, who will be 82 next month and who has led the DUP for nearly 40 years, took the post of First Minister last year following the suspension of Stormont rule for five years. He will step down this May, after one year in the job.

Peter Hain, the former Northern Ireland Secretary, led the tributes to him.

"He played an absolutely historic role in ending the deadlock and establishing permanent devolved government and deserves enormous credit for the courage and vision he showed," Mr Hain said.

"I am sure that the decision he has taken will be the best one for his family, as a very close family man. I wish him all the best for the future."

Former prime minister Tony Blair said: "Ian Paisley's contribution to peace, after all the years of division and difference, was decisive and determinative.

"In short, in the final analysis, he made it happen. The man famous for saying No will go down in history for saying Yes."

Mr Paisley decided to go after mounting pressure from within his party in recent weeks to stand aside.

His son, Ian Paisley jnr, resigned as a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Executive last month after criticism over his links to the developer Seymour Sweeney and controversy over lobbying activity.

Speculation followed that senior party members were unhappy about the subsequent appointment Mr Paisley jnr to the province's policing board.

But Mr Paisley denied the controversy had prompted his decision to step aside. "I never even considered it. I felt that my son was very badly treated," he said.

"I am not a fool – people who thought they could get at me, got at him. They thought they could damage me by the damage they sought to take out on him, but that did not move me."

Mr Paisley, who is staying on as an MP and MLA for the North Antrim constituency, will quit as First Minister and DUP leader after an investment conference in Belfast organised by the Stormont power-sharing executive.

He said: "I came to this decision a few weeks ago when I was thinking very much about the conference and what was going to come after the conference.

"I thought that it is a marker, a very big marker, and it would be a very appropriate time for me to bow out."

It is widely expected that his deputy, Peter Robinson, will succeed him. However, in typically robust fashion, Mr Paisley insisted the decision would be made by DUP members. "This is not the Church of Rome," he said. "This is not apostolic succession, and I have no right to say who will succeed me. The person will succeed me when the mark is on the paper and the ballot is cast.

"Whoever that will be will have my support and encouragement and if he wants to take my advice, he will get that advice if he asks for it. But I will not be sitting like Putin in Russia saying to the president, 'This is the way you have to go'."

Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, said Mr Paisley's move was not unexpected. He went on: "The historic decision he took to go into government with Sinn Fein has changed the face of Irish politics for ever.

"I think that he will be fondly remembered by the people of Ireland – north and south – for the very courageous leadership that he showed."

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said: "Dr Paisley's willingness to work closely with former opponents…captured the world's imagination."

50 YEARS OF UNIONISM
IAN Paisley's remarkable political life has spanned five decades.

Regarded for much of his career as a hardliner and a stern critic of Irish republicanism, he steered his party from the political margins to becoming the biggest party in a power-sharing executive featuring Sinn Fein.

He has been MP for North Antrim since 1970 and also served as a member of the European Parliament between 1979 and 2003.

As well as being a strong critic of the IRA and Sinn Fein, Mr Paisley resisted a role for the Irish government in Northern Ireland's affairs.

He remains as harsh a critic of the Ulster Unionist parties and drew great satisfaction from the DUP's emergence as the largest unionist party, which led to David Trimble's electoral demise. His decision to resign came amid mounting criticism in his party about the electoral impact of images of him and the Sinn Fein deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, joking in public, earning them the nickname "the Chuckle Brothers".