A New Era
I have just got back to the Assembly after recording my interview with Ian Paisley Senior at Stormont Castle. So after months of speculation, controversies over his son's lobbying and disquiet within the ranks over the "Chuckle Brothers" image of the First and Deputy First, Ian Senior has finally confirmed his departure date. It will be shortly after the US Investment Conference in early May.
The next DUP leader is almost certainly going to be Peter Robinson, with Nigel Dodds as his deputy. Party sources say the succession could be approved by the Assembly party, without needing to go to any wider election involving the party membership.
Did he jump or was he pushed? He vehemently denied to me that his decision had anything to do with pressure from within. But it's impossible to separate this announcement from the rumblings of once loyal allies. With his 82nd birthday looming, the clock was ticking in any case.
So what will the new dispensation be like? The prediction is a couple of "cool dudes" to replace the warmth of the "chuckle brothers" - a business like approach which does not provide too many hostages to fortune for the TUV.
And with no Ian Paisley, new horizons open up for unionism. Recently Sir Reg Empey told me there could be no realignment within unionism whilst Paisley remained. There are more possibilities in a post Paisley era.
A post Paisley era. Even though it's been coming for months and I sat there and heard it from his lips I am still having difficulty believing it.
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