Northern Ireland's Catholic, Protestant leaders unite to honor Ian Paisley month after death
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - This is a Monday, July 16, 2007 file photo of Northern Ireland First Minister, Dr Ian Paisley, left, and Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, as they speak to the media at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Ian Paisley frequently divided Northern Ireland in life. But a memorial to the Protestant evangelist who made peace late in life with Catholics has united the British territory’s leaders. Leading figures from across Britain and Ireland came together Sunday Oct. 19, 2014 at the Ulster Hall in Belfast to eulogize Paisley, who died last month at age 88. (AP Photo/Paul Faith, Pool) (The Associated Press)
Ian Paisley frequently divided Northern Ireland in life. But a memorial to the Protestant evangelist who made peace late in life with Catholics has united the British territory's leaders.
Leading figures from across Britain and Ireland came together Sunday at the Ulster Hall in Belfast to eulogize Paisley, who died last month at age 88. Paisley's wife and two sons led the service.
Paisley founded a party, the Democratic Unionists, and a church, the Free Presbyterians of Ulster, which spent decades opposing the Catholic and Irish nationalist minority in Northern Ireland. He stunned the world in 2007 by agreeing to form a unity government alongside former Irish Republican Army commander Martin McGuinness.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}McGuinness and Paisley's successor as Democratic Unionist leader, Peter Robinson, sat beside each other at the hour-long service.