(born April 6, 1926, Armagh, County Armagh, N.Ire.) Protestant leader in Northern Ireland. After being ordained in the Reformed Presbyterian church (1946), he cofounded a new sect, the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster (1951), which soon grew to more than 30 churches. In the 1960s he became the voice of extreme Protestant opinion in the sectarian strife of Northern Ireland, being opposed to any concessions to Roman Catholics. He led demonstrations throughout Northern Ireland and was repeatedly imprisoned for unlawful assembly. Elected to the House of Commons in 1970, he cofounded the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in 1971 and also organized a paramilitary group of Protestant fighters called the Third Force.
In 1998 he opposed the Good Friday Agreement, which called for power sharing between Roman Catholics and Protestants. He won a seat in the new Northern Ireland Assembly that the accord established, though he continued to refuse to participate in negotiations with Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the early 21st century, however, as the IRA distanced itself from violence, and as Sinn Féin's political power grew, Paisley made modest overtures to the party. Following the 2007 elections, in which the DUP won 36 seats and Sinn Féin 28, the two parties reached a historic agreement to form a power-sharing government. On May 8, 2007, Paisley became first minister of Northern Ireland. In June 2008 he stepped down as first minister and as head of the DUP.
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