Thursday 18 September 2014
It was a simple, unceremonious and dignified end to a momentous and
turbulent life. Paisley was one of the most
divisive, complex and iconic political figures on this island.
The tributes were fulsome this week but for many, particularly people of
my generation, for years he cast a dark, sinister and ominous
shadow.
Paisley
railed against most supposed 'evils' he saw in the modern world - sexual
permissiveness, homosexuality and the Pope.
But he reserved his most vicious and hateful tirades for Catholics in the
North. Time and time again this so-called man of God used his office as a church
minister to denigrate and vilify Catholics.
Shameful
Who could
ever forget or forgive the shameful stunt he pulled in the European Parliament
when he disrupted the speech of Pope John Paul II?
For almost
all of his public life, until his late conversion, his implacable and
unrelenting crusade fanned the flames of hatred and bigotry against Catholics.
I have no doubt whatsoever that his inflammatory and hate-filled rants
incited murderous reprisals on innocent Catholics and nationalists by Loyalist
paramilitaries.
Far from
being the peace maker of the DUP, a role he played in latter days, for years he
attempted to destroy every initiative to bring peace.
He destroyed the attempts of Prime Minister Terrence O'Neill to forge
closer relations with the Republic, he helped bring down the Sunningdale
Agreement in 1974, and he accused David Trimble of treason in the latter's
attempt to end The Troubles.
Then, in 2007, he performed an extraordinary volte-face and became First
Minister. It was the power he had no doubt dreamed of and lusted for all his
political life.
Enemies
Now that
he had achieved the ultimate reward, he was prepared to sit with his lifelong
enemies - becoming a 'chuckle brother' to the ex-IRA commander Martin
McGuinness.
It was an extraordinary odyssey for this fire and brimstone preacher. I
can't help thinking that had Paisley achieved
his political ambitions years earlier, many innocent lives would not have been
lost.
Despite
all the bouquets and accolades that have been showered on Paisley since his death, I for one will shed no tears on
his passing.
May god have mercy on his soul and may he rest in
peace.
Comment:
Regardless of the misplaced words of kindness and friendship offered by
the other half of the “chuckle brothers”, I am compelled to agree with the
writer of this article. For several decades, Ian Paisley was an arrogant,
belligerent, bellicose, anti Irish, anti Catholic loudmouth who never hesitated
to spread his venom to anyone who was willing to listen. A couple of years of
attempting to change his image do not begin to forgive his many years of
fomenting ethnic and religious hatred. The mere fact of his death does not
change the image that he worked so hard to project for all those years. He will
not be missed by those who remember his very obnoxious
past.
Jack Meehan, National President
Emeritus
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America
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