Northern Ireland leader Paisley to step down from helm of his Protestant church after 56 years

the International Herald Tribune ^ | September 8, 2007 | The Associated Press

[Alex Murphy]

DUBLIN, Ireland: The Rev. Ian Paisley, who has angered many of his Protestant faithful by forming a Northern Ireland government with a former IRA commander, is stepping down as leader of the hard-line church he founded 56 years ago.

The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster said Paisley would step down rather than face possible ouster following the church's annual meeting, which began Friday night and ran into early Saturday.

"Dr. Paisley has indicated that he will not be standing for the office of moderator of presbytery," said a statement from the meeting.

Paisley, 81, for decades has been re-elected unopposed to the post of Free Presbyterian moderator but was expected to face a challenger when his current term expires in January. He will serve in the post through December, then vacate it.

Rising opposition was demonstrated Friday when a majority of members called for separation of church and state — a barbed reference to Paisley's status as leader of Northern Ireland's fledgling Catholic-Protestant government.

Paisley, who also has led the Democratic Unionist Party since he founded it in 1971, declined to comment.

He stunned Northern Ireland in March by opening talks with Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party — and announcing within hours, on live television, a deal to forge a coalition with politicians he had long denounced as the devil's disciples.

Since May he has served in Cabinet alongside Sinn Fein deputy leader Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander. McGuinness said they were getting along fine — but still hadn't shaken hands.

"He takes some pride still in telling people that he hasn't done that," McGuinness said this week on Irish national broadcasters RTE. "But we meet every day, sometimes twice a day, sometimes for up to three or four hours. And there hasn't been ....