When Ian and Martin prayed
Ian Paisley has spoken for the first time about praying in private with Martin McGuinness while they served together as joint heads of the Northern Ireland Executive. Dr Paisley made his comments in a public interview with me earlier this week at Queen's University. The interview is now available online. He said:
'[Martin McGuinness] took some risks. For a Sinn Fein leader to call other Republicans traitors when there was the shooting of the two Army men, I mean that was a very tough thing to say... We got on well together because we had a good foundation, and as long as we kept to that foundation all was well... There were some individual matters that he had, home matters of people being ill and his mother being ill, and we prayed together. Well, I did the praying and he did the listening, but he wanted me to do it... I offered prayer for him, and I think that was the right thing to do, and I don't care what people say. I hope that I have the same heart that Christ had, a love for others who needed help at times of need.'
I asked Ian Paisley about the irony of journalists writing stories, at the time, noting that he had failed to shake Martin McGuinness's hand in public, while they were praying together in private. Dr Paisley said he has never been impressed by staged handshakes in public.
You can listen to the whole interview on the .
Update: My interview with Ian Paisley is the front page lead in , and also makes the front page.
Comment number 1.
At 22nd Jan 2010, Heliopolitan wrote:I haven't listened to the interview yet, but that is quite touching. Maybe the seeds of tolerance are starting to put forth some tender green & orange shoots. Now if only we could get them all to become atheists... ;-)
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Comment number 2.
At 22nd Jan 2010, John Wright wrote:I have the same reaction as Helio. It's rather nice, the whole idea. Perhaps THE most significant symbol of reconciliation in NI?
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Comment number 3.
At 23rd Jan 2010, U14310279 wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 4.
At 23rd Jan 2010, The Enquirer wrote:One of the basic teachings of Christianity is to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matt. 5:38-48; Luke 6:27-36). This is what Mr Paisley was doing. It is nothing new. If Mr Paisley was consistent with his beliefs, then he would have done this in the early '70's as much as now.
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Comment number 5.
At 23rd Jan 2010, The Christian Hippy wrote:If D.I.P. prayed in private with Marty, he should have kept it private.
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Comment number 6.
At 23rd Jan 2010, Heather Hanna wrote:Yes, this is all very nice...but I'm not sure why it's news, or to put it another way, why we are hearing about it now? H
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Comment number 7.
At 24th Jan 2010, Heliopolitan wrote:CH, quite right. Even God has the decency not to listen in on people's prayers.
-H
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Comment number 8.
At 25th Jan 2010, Mark wrote:Helio, you slipped up there (comment 7). If you don't believe in God, why do you use his proper name? :-)
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Comment number 9.
At 25th Jan 2010, Heliopolitan wrote:Apols, Mark - the fruits of an all-pervasive Presbyterian upbringing. Simply substitute "The magic space pixie", and that should fix it.
:-)
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Comment number 10.
At 28th Jan 2010, omi1 wrote:Christian Hippy,
I think these private prayers are newsworthy because here we see these two men showing a mutual respect and human compassion for each other. And we need to see as much of that as possible here.
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