Gay Byrne talks to Rev Ian Paisley about the staunch upbringing and firm beliefs that made him Ulster's "Dr No." Ian Paisley is a preacher turned politician who played a controversial yet important role in Northern Ireland's Troubles and the subsequent peace. As Northern Ireland descended into sectarian violence in the late 1960s, Paisley emerged as protester-in-chief of anything he perceived to threaten its status as part of the United Kingdom. Paisley would ultimately end his political career as the First Minister of Northern Ireland, sharing power with the republican Sinn Féin party he had long opposed. He resigned as First Minister and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in 2008 and was made a life peer two years later.