Ian Paisley's name is synonymous throughout the world with the fearless defence of loyalism and Unionism in Northern Ireland. It is a reputation he has earned due to his unshrinking commitment to the Unionist people of Northern Ireland. Ian Paisley is Ulster's most popular politician a fact confirmed by the result in the 1994 European election. At that time he received one-in-every-three votes cast in the entire country. Paisley is effectively the Voice Of Ulster! Ian Paisley is the leader of the Ulster Democratic Unionist Party, an MEP for the whole of Northern Ireland, and the MP for North Antrim. Also, he is the Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, and Minister of the Martyr Memorial Free Presbyterian Church Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Ian Paisley was at the forefront of militant Unionism in the 1960's and helped establish the Protestant Unionists, a pressure group come political party. Realising the need for an alternative unionist party that would refuse to compromise on the vital constitutional issues affecting the country and give a voice to the voiceless loyalist community, excluded from effective political representation by the Official Unionist Party, Ian Paisley formed the DUP in 1971.
The emergence of the DUP under Ian Paisley's leadership 25 years ago, broke the overbearing domination of the OUP and presented the people of Northern Ireland with an alternative Unionist Party, whose dedicated commitment to maintaining the rights of the unionist people to uphold the union with the rest of the United Kingdom and to defend the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom. The motto of the D.U.P. then and now remains, "Service ever, Surrender never."
Born in Armagh on 6 April 1926, his father Rev James Kyle Paisley was a Baptist Minster in the town of Ballymena where the Paisley family grew up. He was educated at Ballymena Model School, the Technical High School, Ballymena, and later at the South Wales Bible College, Barry, S. Wales where as a teenager he served in the Civil Defence during World War II.
Back in Belfast he completed his training at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological College. In 1946 he was ordained a Minister of Religion in Ravenhill Road, Belfast. He was awarded an Hon DD at Bob Jones University, South Carolina, USA. FRGS Affiliations include, Member, International Cultural Society of Korea.
Today Paisley celebrates over 50 years in the Gospel Ministry and 46 years as Moderator in the Free Presbyterian Church. That Church is the largest small denomination in Northern Ireland, with over 60 congregations and several others in the rest of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Church is represented in four continents of the world. This aspect of Paisley's life is remarkable in its own right, coupled with his leadership of the DUP for the past 25 years. During the present constitutional crisis in Ulster he has led his Party to be the second largest in the New Ulster Forum with 24 members.
Paisley is the author of several religious and political publications. He is Editor of The Revivalist, The Official Organ of the Free Church and The Protestant Telegraph, an independent monthly newspaper. This year marks the establishment of The Ian Paisley Library of Religious Works now plans to run into 50 volumes.
Ian Paisley is the authentic voice of traditional unionism. He is committed to the defence of the loyalist community's inalienable right to remain British.