Bradley a good unionist but she must stand up to Dublin: Paisley

Mr Paisley, who said he had worked with Karen Bradley during her time in her previous role as culture secretary, praised the Conservative MP’s personal qualities.

“She is very steady, capable and she brings clarity to her portfolio,” Mr Paisley said.

However, he predicted a difficult few weeks to come for the new secretary of state.

“I think every Northern Ireland secretary comes to the job with the knowledge that in the first two weeks, some eejit from one party or another is going to call for them to resign,” he said. “That happens. That’s the nature of politics.”

Mr Paisley, who recently predicted a return to some form of direct rule before the end of January due to the continued Stormont stalemate, continued: “I think as we move to this very troubling period between devolution and what might be next, she has to straddle that, so it is a difficult point for her where she will need to be very steady. She will also need to be very brave and stick to those tough decisions.

“She will need to stand up to Dublin and she may need to stand up to people within the NIO who have their own agenda.

“She will need to be very determined and fixed in terms of where she wants to take Northern Ireland.

“She will certainly have our support if she makes sure that the guiding star in all of this is to do right by the Union and the people of the Union.”

On that front, the DUP MP said he is confident.

“She is definitely a good unionist,” he said. “I think that the current team of members of the government are the strongest unionist team we have seen in decades.”

Northern Ireland’s smaller parties, meanwhile, are calling for the secretary of state to reinstigate all-party talks in a bid to stave off direct rule.

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long told the News Letter: “We had a good chat, and she certainly seems to be enthusiastic about the job, but she’s obviously aware of the task that she’s facing.

“I raised the all-party talks with her, as I had raised it with James Brokenshire. I think that the time for Sinn Fein and the DUP locking themselves away behind closed doors, making the impression of negotiations when in fact it appears they have simply been talking at each other and not with each other, has come to an end.”

UUP MLA Doug Beattie made a similar call following Mrs Bradley’s appointment.

He said: “She needs to hit the ground running. She’s got a massive task ahead of her.

“I’m calling as an MLA and we are calling as a party to reinstigate all-party talks. It may not have seemed like it but we were making progress in those talks.”

Meanwhile, Retail NI has urged Mrs Bradley to hit the ground running to restore devolution.

The business group also wished former NI secretary James Brokenshire a speedy recovery from his health problems.

Chief executive Glyn Roberts said: “Her appointment will hopefully give new momentum to an intensive talks process which leads to the Executive being re-established.”