I wept over IRA death, says Paisley associate

A former DUP firebrand Assemblyman and Free Presbyterian minister has told how he wept when he heard that an IRA man had been shot dead by a paratrooper.
Rev Ivan FosterRev Ivan Foster
Rev Ivan Foster

Writing in today’s News Letter, the Rev Ivan Foster recounts how when he was jailed with Ian Paisley half a century ago he struck up an unlikely relationship with Official IRA man Joe McCann.

The Rev Foster – who was seen as one of the most uncompromising DUP members and who at one point in the 1980s was the Fermanagh commander of the quasi-military Third Force – said that he had explained his faith to the young IRA man and that they had discussed their religious views while working in the Crumlin Road Jail.

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The Rev Foster, who represented the area in Stormont during the 1980s, said that the Falls Road-born paramilitary had been a “dedicated IRA man”.

Recalling the moment when he heard of the 24-year-old’s death, the Rev Foster said: “I freely admit my heart was filled with grief and I shed tears over the sad fate of that young man.”

The Rev Foster – who in 2007 used his pulpit to denounce Dr Paisley’s moves towards power-sharing with Sinn Fein – also said that the period around their jailing had been pivotal to the growth of the Free Presbyterian Church.

• The full story is in our Saturday print edition and will be published online much later in the day at this link here