Paisley backs ‘united Ireland under Queen’
IAN Paisley has declared his support for the reunification of the island of Ireland under the Crown.
The ex-DUP leader, in his first speech since joining the Lords in July, cited a letter in yesterday’s Irish Independent newspaper in which the writer “invited Her Majesty to come over and take the whole of Ireland under her control”.
The newly-ennobled Lord Bannside went on: “I am not going to throw such a bomb as that into the House today. But it’s a very good thought and, if we all came together with Her Majesty at our head, I think we would do very well.”
And, in a thinly-veiled reference to the King William III’s victory over the King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, he added: “Another king did that at a certain famous watering place that I will not mention here today.”
He was speaking in a Lords debate, opened by Liberal Democrat Lord Maclennan of Rogart, on the role of active citizenship in society. It is customary in the Lords for maiden speeches to steer clear of controversy.
Flanked by his wife, Baroness Paisley of St George’s, the former moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church quipped that she had been sent, like John the Baptist, before Bannside, 84, told peers: “I am a great believer in being active and – hold onto your seats – I am not going to be too active today because there are other things in mind.”
And, recalling his Commons maiden speech 40 years ago, he added: “I have no intention of sitting in this place for 40 years!”
But he promised to become a “really active citizen” in Heaven.
Lord Bannside noted that rights were easy to list and were enshrined in law, but responsibilities were not so well defined.
“This generation needs to have a study of not only citizenship but to be able to make that study practical and applicable to the places where they live,” he said.
Even in churches, he said, there were some who wanted the privileges and others who wanted the responsibilities.
“And there are those who are dedicated to the cause that they have espoused.”
Lord Bannside went on: “I appreciate the motive and also the probationary period that is needed for new immigrants coming into our country to carry out their responsibilities.
“They must know that the country to which they come is only such a country as it is because others, in times past, took up those responsibilities and involved themselves to make this land better than it was.”
The DUP peer went on: “I believe we must replace the benefit system by teaching the real benefits that fow from our personal commitment to hard work and I believe that we shall see our country come out of the terrible place it finds itself in today.
“There is hope where there is dedication, and there is hope where that dedication is employed with all the strength that we have.”
Lord Bannside said the UK did “need to open our doors to newcomers” and, without past generations of immigrants, it would now be a “poor country”.
And, defending his confrontational style, he added: “The more argument, the less trouble we have settling things outside. I trust that we will argue our way through in the present situation and see a better country for us all.”
The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Timothy Stevens, told Lord Bannside: “When it comes to active citizenship, there are few who can surpass your record in Northern Ireland.”
