Figures released through a News Letter Freedom of Information request reveal that the former DUP leader and Sinn Fein's Deputy First Minister met in an official capacity on 146 occasions since the return of devolution in May 2007.

Personal meetings between the two men have not been officially recorded.
Mr Paisley stepped down from office last month and was succeeded by Peter Robinson, who also took over the helm of the DUP.

The political double act of Mr Paisley and Mr McGuinness confounded many critics who believed the partnership was doomed from the outset. Such was the public perception of their apparently jovial relationship, both men were famously dubbed 'the chuckle brothers'.

The figure – which does not include one-to-one meetings between the two men – comprises a total of 29 Executive meetings jointly chaired by Mr Paisley in his role as First Minister with Mr McGuinness.

Both men were involved in 17 regular departmental update meetings during their 13 months in office.

On 19 occasions, they were involved in meetings with visiting dignitaries to the Province. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, current premier Gordon Brown and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern have all been hosted at Stormont by both men as well as heads of the other regional assemblies.

According to the statistics, Mr Paisley and Mr McGuinness took part in 11 public engagements and three overseas visits encompassing several meetings. The most high profile foreign trip was to the United States last December ahead of the spring US investment conference, when the then Stormont heads met President Bush at the White House.

A total of 67 joint meetings have been broadly categorised under the heading of 'other business meetings'.

During Mr Paisley's tenure, the Executive made over 130 policy decisions including setting the budget allocation for each department and agreeing a Programme for Government.

An OFMDFM spokesman said one-to-one meetings between the First Minister and his deputy since 8 May 2007 were arranged on an "impromptu basis" and were therefore "not recorded".

Reacting to the figures, MEP and former DUP member Jim Allister criticised his former DUP leader.

"Now I understand better why in his year in office Ian Paisley never found time to meet me as an MEP to discuss EU issues, despite a written request from August 6, 2007. He was clearly too busy chuckling and chatting with Marty," he said.

"No doubt, Mr Robinson in fulfilling this joint office will end up doing the same. Maybe, he'll find time to discuss with McGuinness the catalogue of crimes which he alleged against him in the Assembly on 8 May 2001, at a time when he rightly thought him unfit for office."

A DUP spokesman said there was nothing surprising about the figures given that Mr Paisley was First Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

He said: "The MEPs of Northern Ireland, including Jim Allister, had several opportunities to meet Ian Paisley while he was First Minister. This half-baked criticism is nonsense."