Paisley Junior - on up the yard

So Ian Paisley Junior has at last resigned. Only about 3 years to late Ian-o.

This is the man who, whilst a member of the NI policing board in 2005, said he thought homosexuality was "repulsive" and because David Trimble had a gay aide his politcal judgement was "questionable".

When he came out with that statement originally, all I could think of was..."gerrup'the'yard, youre getting the sack mate". Well he didnt back then but hes up the yard now, though it worries me he wasn't cleared out quicker. I wonder if he was a politician in the south would he have come away as unscathed if he'd made such comments.

If Enda Kenny had called homosexuality "disgusting" [well, he'd be more likely to call it "a hainish crime against the natural processes of the human body", but thats irrelevant] would he have recieved a backlash strong enough to remove him from his post?

Maybe Enda Kenny is a bad example, sure half his supporters want him off his perch. Say, Willie O'Dea, he man who recieved the highest percentage votes in any consticuency in the republic at the last general election. A man with similar backing from his party to Paisley Jnr. and both Willie and Ian-o being men of similar standing within their respective political landscapes... a better comparison.

If Willie O'Dea had said he thought gay relationships "harm society", and are "immoral, offensive, obnoxious and wrong" [quote: Paisley Junior] - would the people of the south have caused enough of a fuss to force O'Dea out of office? I think so, and I sure hope so.

Thats the kind of thing that worries me about the future of Northern Ireland, not sectarianism, just the general bigoted attitude of "if your not like me, then I don't like you".

Now, I am basing my opinion on personal experience mainly, but there is research to back it up I believe. If my memory serves me correctly NI was named the "Hate capital of the world" at some point last year by an academic study [god bless google - Article].

Thats the worrying thing about the north, if this island does ever unite as a country, with the current number of foreign workers and naturalised immigrants in the republic, could it ever unite as a society?