Ian Paisley MP MLA visits Town Hall for reception in his honour

We as a Council were delighted to welcome the former First Minister of Northern Ireland to Town Hall for a reception in his honour.

The following speech was given by the DUP leader within North Down Borough Council Alderman Gordon Dunne:-

Mr Mayor, Dr Paisley, Lady Hermon, Aldermen, Councillors, Ladies and Gentlemen.

We are all delighted to welcome Dr Paisley along here this evening and we would like to pay tribute to him for the contribution he has made to North Down and indeed Northern Ireland over the years. The Council by an overwhelming majority agreed to hold this Civic Reception to recognise your contribution to N Ireland as First Minister.

Dr Paisley has been elected to numerous Chambers of Government - in Westminster 37 years- In Europe 25 years- and in Stormont for a number of years and still continues to date.

He has certainly been very vigorous in all Chambers of debate as he forwarded the interests of Northern Ireland at all levels.

I know one area that he did not get elected to was local government and suppose he does regret it in some ways - I do remember being in party meetings some years ago and Dr Paisley being dragged into a dispute about a Council issue somewhere and Dr Paisley - opting to stay out of it as local government was one area he had no direct experience - so he steered clear of it

Locally we recall many happy occasions of visits of Dr Paisley to North Down during election campaigns - I remember we had to all gather in Bangor Market and meet under the leadership of the late Mrs Beryl Holland and if Dr Paisley was late he was in big trouble not with electorate but with Beryl. A row at Westminster was nothing compared to being in trouble with Beryl.

We had some great days visiting factories in Balloo Ind Estate during the European Election Campaign and walking around Bangor market and maybe meet some folk with a real burden - problem and Dr Paisley would just have a word of prayer with them there and then. - Just one of the unique qualities of the man - which has gained him widespread respect and popularity.
Also recall the days when he would jump into the front seat of transit van and get the microphone going just to remind people of an election - and the Police body guards going mad as Doc should not have been travelling around outside the bullet proof car.
Your efforts locally have paid of politically as we now have 2 MLA's in N Down - Alex & Peter and of course 8 members in the Council - all here tonight.

In the European Parliament, Dr Paisley excelled at representing N Ireland where spent over 25 years - winning 5 Euro Elections and topping the Poll on all five occasions.
Great work done for Northern Ireland for Industrial Investment and the Agricultural sector in particular.
In North Down we benefited from EU funding for such projects as the Bangor Marina, Signal Business Centre, The Peace funding which was ear- marked funding which has been extensively used in Community Development Projects throughout the Council area.

At Constituency level Dr Paisley is still a great champion of the needs of individual constituents and represents everyone who comes seeking assistance and advice.

The newly established Government at Stormont has recently taken a lot of time and effort by Dr Paisley - he made this a priority so that we could see a Government established which represented the needs and wishes of local people here in Northern Ireland.

We all recognise the most difficult and courageous decision you made to go into the newly formed Government - which we believe was done to benefit us now, and future generations to come.

Recognising change is difficult, but implementing it and making progress is even more difficult - We as a Council recognise what you have done and we fully support your leadership action as First Minister in N Ireland.

This evening, we as North Down Councillors recognise the great job you done as First Minister of Northern Ireland and the many years of faithful service you gave to all the people of Northern Ireland in the many elected bodies you served on.