DUP says Ian Paisley contribution to BBC show Borderland on Irish unity was not on behalf of party

The DUP said he was ”not appearing on behalf of the party,” adding that “the DUP is not interested in engaging or being persuaded on the so-called merits of a United Ireland”.

The show, called ‘Borderland: UK or United Ireland’, is available to listen to now online as two 45-minute episodes called ‘The Importance of Being Irish’ and ‘The Importance of Being British’.

Its description is as follows: “This podcast will ask key questions about the shape and timing of any potential referendum on Irish unity and what all of this could mean for politics and society.”

Mr Paisley was one of a number of contributors.

Sinn Fein’s Michelle Gildernew, former MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, was another.

Other contributors to the first episode included the nationalists Leo Varadkar, Colin Harvey, and Colum Eastwood.

The second episode features loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, loyalist bandsmen, and Orange grand secretary Mervyn Gibson.

Much of the show’s first episode was a discussion between Mr Paisley and Ms Gildernew.

She said her family have been “activists in the Tyrone area for generations”, and complained of how they were treated “by the British Army, by the UDR, by the UVF, the UDA, the LVF”.

"Ultimately Ireland hasn’t been able to achieve its full potential divided,” she said.

"Partition has been bad for every citizen on the island of Ireland.”

Mr Paisley said “Michelle’s experience of Northern Ireland would be very different to my experience”, adding that she had “bitterness” about the past – something Ms Gildernew denied.

He said “the Northern Ireland we have, it isn’t utopia” but that “we can do much more together than hankering after pipe dreams”.

Later they went on to talk about the Irish language, with Mr Paisley saying that Protestants were among those who held fast to the Irish language: “Protestants from the previous century certainly weren’t scared of Irishness, certainly not scared of the Irish language, they weren't scared of Irish sports – they played it.

"The founding father of Northern Ireland, Edward Carson: gaelic speaker.”

He later suggested most unionists “have disengaged with Irishness” because they see it was “weaponised against them”.

"Whether they were right or wrong in that, that doesn’t matter – it’s how they perceive it and how they do it,” he added.

Returning to the issue of a border poll, Mr Paisley was in conversation with Mr Eastwood and Dr Harvey, saying “the polling shows overwhelmingly that 58%-plus are happy the the status quo – that it isn’t shifting, it’s stubbornly sitting there”, adding that “there isn’t actually momentum” for it.

He went on to add: “Of course my mind is open. My mind is open every single day of the week...

"But I’m a true believer in Britain and in this place being British.

"But if you’ve got persuasive arguments, please present them because to date I haven’t heard them.”

Reacting to the show, the DUP issued a statement.

Unusually, it was a statement from the party generally, rather than being in anyone’s name.

It said: “Following the release of the recent BBC podcasts the Democratic Unionist Party wishes to make clear that Mr Ian Paisley is appearing in this series in his own personal capacity and not on behalf of the Democratic Unionist Party.

"As Ian is no longer in public office, he is entitled to give his own views but he is not appearing on behalf of the party.

“The DUP is not interested in engaging or being persuaded on the so-called merits of a United Ireland or New Ireland or any other label those who want to pursue that aspiration might put on their latest project.

“We believe in the Union and we are not open to taking part in discussions about a new Ireland and we will not be enticed by honeyed words designed to convey an impression that Unionists would be welcomed and openly accommodated in a United Ireland.

"A cursory examination of how Unionists are treated when they find themselves in a minority tells us all we need to know and gives the lie to the narrative being pursued.

“Nationalists are trying to convince us that a United Ireland is inevitable. That is total rubbish.

"Leo Varadkar, whilst active in politics, did more to harm relationships between the Republic of Ireland and Unionists in Northern Ireland than many of his predecessors and should learn from his mistakes rather than stirring up a divisive debate about a border poll.

"For us we will promote the benefits of the United Kingdom and will not be diverted down the route of talking about any new Ireland or a divisive border poll that takes the focus away from the important ongoing real issues that people face on a daily basis.”

Mr Paisley had been MLA for North Antrim from 1998 to 2010, and then MP for the area from 2010 until his defeat by Jim Allister of the TUV in 2024 (by 11,642 votes to 11,192).