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Lord Bannside ill

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Lord Bannside

FORMER First minister and North Antrim MP, Lord Bannside, has been admitted to hospital after taking ill over the weekend.
The 85-year-old peer, who retired last week as minister of Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian church, had been due to attend a DUP dinner in Ballymena on Saturday night but sent his apologies.
Baroness Paisley released a statement yesterday (Monday) confirming that her husband is being treated in the Ulster Hospital.
She requested that the family's privacy is respected "at this difficult time."
At the time of going to press last night there was no update from the hospital on Lord Bannside's health, but one reliable media source said he was being treated for a heart condition.
Lord Bannside stepped down as North Antrim MP in 2010 and was succeeded by his son, Ian junior.
He then relinquished his Assembly seat at last year's election to bring down the curtain on his career in elected politics.
Unsurprisingly given his advancing years, Mr Paisley suffered a number of health setbacks in recent years but his indomitable spirit saw him recover and maintain a schedule that would have stretched even the fittest of politicians.
He took up a seat in the House of Lords last year, joining his wife on the red benches in the Upper House. Last year he had a pacemaker fitted after taking ill in the Lords but was soon back at his desk carrying out a full range of appointments.
His has an unquenchable thirst for work, carrying out church duties and preaching all over the world.
Eight years ago after recovering from a prolonged bout of illness he talked about "walking in death's shadow."
Lord Bannside was born on April 6, 1926, in Armagh and brought up in Ballymena where his father was an independent Baptist minister.
He married Baroness Paisley in 1956 and they had five children, three daughters, Sharon, Rhonda and Cherith, and sons, Kyle and Ian junior.
In addition to co-founding the DUP and leading it from 1970 to 2008, he is also a founding member and past Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church.
He was elected to the Commons in 1970 taking the North Antrim seat from Official Unionist MP, Harry Clarke.
When the Guardian broke the story of his retirement in 2010, he told me that he had not intended to contest that election until Clarke produced a picture of him at a public meeting in Kells and proceeded to set it on fire.
After being elected on a vote that made the Guinness Book of Records for the largest ever overturning of a majority, the then Rev Paisley went on to dominate the political scene in North Antrim for nearly half a century.
His uncompromising brand of Ulster Protestantism offended many but he contested and successfully won 19 elections, underlining his popularity with voters in the constituency.
As one Paisley loyalist put it: "North Antrim was a byword for neglect when he started but it has become one of Northern Ireland's most economically active communities.
“The people know what he did for them and that is why he was so successful at the ballot box."
He upset many former supporters when he decided to lead his party into Government with Sinn Fein in 2007 after being satisifed they had turned their back on violence for good and agreed to support the police and the institutions of government.
Lord Bannside has repeatedly said he has no regrets about taking the historic step, claiming he had got the best deal possible in the circumstances.
He said he was prepared to let history judge his contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process.

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