In May 1977, Ian Paisley was in a television studio in Belfast when he bumped into Malachy McGurran, a leader of the Official IRA in Northern Ireland. At that time, Paisley was attempting to orchestrate a repeat of the loyalist workers' strike that had defeated the Sunningdale power-sharing agreement three years earlier. Paisley was demanding a return to unfettered Orange rule and freedom to deal with nationalist dissent. But the strike was a flop. McGurran couldn't resist the opportunity: 'How's the stoppage going, Ian?' Paisley - by all accounts far more jovial than his pulpit demeanour suggests - replied: 'Well, you ought to know how hard it is to lead the working class, Malachy.'

LRB 7 October 2010 | PDF Download