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A friend asked me for my opinion on the death of Ian Paisley. I had given it little thought except for a feeling of surprise that he was still alive. His was a career that was moderately (at best) interesting. He began as a fiery sectarian preacher in the mold of Roaring Hugh Hanna from the 19th century < http://belfastmediagroup.com/roaring-hugh-hanna-the%E2%80%88preacher-of-hate/ >. Paisley rode the sectarian tiger of Ulster Loyalism with supreme skill. I am still amazed that he stayed ahead of the Loyalist assassins. Some of his performances were mildly amusing - his calling of the Pope "Aul Purple Socks" was one such. Equally funny was the moment when he was been given a hard time by a BBC journalist and he roared out "You have been drinking, sir. Let me smell your breath!" The hapless journalist collapsed into weak denials and no one noticed that the questions remain unanswered. My own personal encounters with Paisley were twofold. Once I was standing in a crowd in a Loyalist estate (don't ask!) with my son who was under two at the time. Paisley paraded past in an open car. The crowd were ecstatic and very vocal in their acclamation of their hero. Terrified, I whispered with some urgency to my son "For f...k's sake wave!", and when he appeared reluctant I grabbed his arm and waved frantically at Paisley who smiled and waved back at us. I don't think my son has yet forgiven me. Many years later I was standing beside Paisley on a crowded airport bus with Paisley at Heathrow and he smiled again at me and looked like he wanted to say something, but I cut him dead. That was after his notorious anti-gay campaign "Ulster says No" to the legalization of homosexuality. Martin McGuinness, former revolutionary, has said of Paisley's death that he had lost a friend. Mainstream media has emphasized the change in Paisley when he became First Minister in N. Ireland. I am not so sure. Forty years living in Queensland, Australia, has convinced me of the strength of continuities rather than ruptures, and I am now inclined to believe that Paisley was all along an opportunist who played the bigot-clown, while it was a valuable role and then switched to constitutional moderate, when he realized his masters were serious about patching up "a peace agreement". Whatever the case he is gone, and as Michael Collins, after eliminating the British secret service in Dublin, once said "The air is sweeter". comradely Gary ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
