Paisley - Why Not then rather than now?

So, great Ian Paisley retired from political life at the end. Dr. No, the moniker more appropriately applied to the preacher thundered, has left the political scene in the North through the side door, rather than the output of marble as the forces of negativity within his own party prevailed.

Judging by the acres of newspaper dedicated to his departure last week, you would think that Paisley was a kind of saint, on which was full of praise of the marvelous results in a lifetime of work in the fiery cauldron of politics in Northern Ireland.

There is no doubt that in recent years in Ulster politics were difficult to digest. Nearly 40 years of conflict, terror and loss of life among Catholic and Protestant communities ended with Paisley as first minister of Northern Ireland Assembly and its arch-nemesis, Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, as his deputy leader.

Five years ago if anyone dared to predict such a scenario, they would immediately led away by men in white coats and never seen again.

And 'certainly amazing to see what happened with the St. Andrews agreement was signed two years ago. Decades of negotiations and intervention by American presidents and political leaders such as George Mitchell, failed to bring the two parties to an agreement. When it appeared on so many occasions that a final deal was being struck, Dr. No has said exactly that, and the failure was a certainty.

Since extreme DUP, led by Paisley, routed the more moderate UUP in various elections and became the standard bearers Loyalists, Northern Ireland's future seemed destined for decades of decay. Exactly the same scenario was happening on the nationalist side of the fence in which Sinn Fein has created a powerful voting machine in working class districts of the North to overcome the moderate SDLP to become the harsh voice of the republican movement.

The moderation has been replaced by Polar opposite end. Those watching on the edge could not contemplate the possibility that anything remotely positive might happen in the politics of the North because of historical differences and hatred between the two parties.

Yet, incredibly, did so. The two sides settled down to work on practical day to day issues and political problems themselves. Paisley and McGuinness became known as the "Chuckle Brothers" as was the warmth of their employment.

Paisley came to Dublin, all smiles and bonhomie, to greet Bertie Ahern as if the man was a friend for life.

The world watched with amazement. It was a modern conversion of St. Paul on the Damascus road. The immovable object that was Ian Paisley had seen the light on the M1 to Dublin! He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

We were not alone. So did the members of the DUP. What he saw was the betrayal by a selfish and evil age, who wanted a great epitaph on his tomb. After years of being the hard-line bigot who blocked any peace initiative, Paisley had melted like ice cream on a hot summer as he prepared to meet his maker.

Peter Robinson and his friends wanted to get rid of him before more damage was done. So, Big Ian and little Ian were shown the door last week, no matter how it was purveyed by the spin-doctors. The red flag of Ulster easily concealed knives in both shoulders.

It 'was in retrospect no more than Paisley deserved. It should be remembered kindly by history or grandly. His was the strong, the voice of prejudice and hate unreasonable when the trouble started in 1968.

The denial of civil rights to the minority Catholic population by the people and institutions that represent the fire that was to follow. Paisley and his "No Surrender" effusions fanned the flames. His evil influence created the loyalist terror gangs on the streets and the thugs in political chambers of power that canceled the efforts of moderate men, and good for bringing peace in those early years of conflict.

The real heroes of the long and tortuous journey to what is today Northern Ireland have been conveniently forgotten last week in the hype surrounding the conversion of Paisley and departure.

The courage of John Hume to take the quiet but important step to engage in secret talks with the IRA in 1994 kick-started this process. His name just got a mention in the entire demented rhetoric last week.

The ability of leaders and actors in the republican movement to convince their members to a cease-fire in 1994, and then surrender their weapons before any concessions on the part of the loyalist paramilitaries, are the foundations upon which the power Existing-sharing assembly is built.

When all the hard work and thankless was done in the years since then, Paisley standing in the middle of the narrow road to peace, arms held wide, disrupt and stop the travel at all times. Only at the last moment did make concessions

Why has it changed so dramatically, we will never know. Senility or conscience, perhaps? Alternatively, the desire to be kindly remembered in history books of the pupils not yet born.

Shed no tears to his forced departure or sing no song of praise.

Paisley had the power of this in 1974, compared to 2008, why not?

A conversion of the last minute not to dismantle the structure of hatred and division that has built in his time.

He chose to use his influence is not looking for peace, but the consequences of intolerance.

A suitable epitaph, perhaps? ......