The private funeral of the Rev Ian Paisley is taking place today in Co Down after a family service at his east Belfast home to be led by his son the Rev Kyle Paisley.
At the request of Dr Paisley, who died on Friday morning aged 88, his funeral will be strictly private, which is in contrast with the very public life of the former first minister and DUP leader.
Soon after he died, his wife, Baroness Eileen Paisley, issued a statement saying: "According to Ian's wishes his funeral will be private and attended only by the immediate family, as will be his burial."
A public memorial service will be held later. That decision means that former staunch allies of Dr Paisley, such as First Minister Peter Robinson, deputy DUP leader Nigel Dodds and other members of the party, will not be in attendance.
Dr Paisley had become estranged from Mr Robinson and some other senior DUP figures whom he blamed for forcing his standing down as first minister and DUP leader in 2008.
Tributes, however, will be paid by Northern Ireland politicians at a special sitting of the Northern Assembly today, after which the assembly will adjourn without carrying out normal business.
Split with church and peers
The DUP speaker
William Hay
said it would be a privilege to preside over the sitting.
“Regardless of how individual Assembly members regarded his politics, there is no doubt that we have lost one of the most influential figures in the history of Northern Ireland,” he said.
“Whether I was observing him in party meetings as a leader and friend, or from the speaker’s chair as first minister in the assembly chamber, Ian Paisley’s personality and conviction would always fill the room,” he added.
“Personally, I knew Ian Paisley as a family friend long before my own political career and what I will remember most was his unique way of connecting with, and showing a personal interest in, people,” said Mr Hay.
The fact that the funeral service is not being held at Dr Paisley’s former Free Presbyterian Martyrs’ Memorial Church on the Ravenhill Road in east Belfast is also viewed as a reflection of how he felt that the church he founded in 1951 turned against him when, seven years ago, he agreed to share power with Sinn Féin. That decision led to his resigning as moderator of the church.
Books of condolences
The Free Presbyterian Church at the weekend issued a statement paying tribute to Dr Paisley and expressing “deep sadness and regret” at his death.
“We pay tribute to the many, many years of faithful gospel ministry that Dr Paisley exercised both in Northern Ireland and also farther afield.
“Under the hand of God, Dr Paisley was mightily used of the Lord in the conversion of many to Jesus Christ,” the church said in a statement.
“We are grateful that through Dr Paisley’s faithful and anointed preaching of God’s word and the stand he took for Christ’s cause, the spirit of God raised a biblical witness against apostasy from Christ. And we thank the Lord that this witness for truth continues under the blessing of God to this day,” it added.
A number of books of condolence were opened in towns such as Newtownabbey, Ballymena, Lisburn and Derry at the weekend.
Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who served with Dr Paisley, signed the book at the Guildhall in Derry.
He wrote: “In rising above old enmities we pointed the way to a better and peaceful future. The peace process and I have lost a friend.”
