THE DUP has accused former First Minister David Trimble of letting the perpetrators of Troubles' violence "off the hook" by claiming Ian Paisley had a role in creating the conflict.
The former Ulster Unionist leader's remarks came in the wake of Belfast-born flautist James Galway's claim last week that the late Lord Bannside was "indirectly responsible" for murder.
Lord Trimble fuelled further controversy over his Stormont successor's legacy by suggesting the Troubles may not have happened were it not for the former DUP leader's behaviour.
The one-time Upper Bann MP said he often asked people to consider the question: "Had there been no Ian Paisley, would we have had the Troubles?"
"The probability is no Paisley, no Troubles," he said.
"Now its not a certainty, but thats the probability. I think people ought to remember that because everybody who lived through that time knew that."
Lord Trimble qualified the comment, insisting his assessment did not mean Paisley caused the Troubles.
"Had there been no Paisley, would there have been the Troubles? Probably not," he told the News Letter.
"That is not the same thing as saying that he caused the Troubles. Thats not the same thing as saying that he bears a unique blame for it."
The former UUP leader said lots of people bore responsibility for the conflict but that the man - who he once danced hand-in-hand with down Portadown's Garvaghy Road - was a "very significant factor in creating them".
"Who were the people responsible for all the bombings in, what was it, 1968? The bombings of the power supplies and all the rest of it? They were Paisleyites," he said
Lord Trimble said the DUP founder had "mellowed considerably" towards the end of his life but he "never tried to deal with" his role in the 1960s. He said some within the DUP sought to "airbrush" their former party leader's record, as did members Sinn Fin in relation to their own past.
"Theres nothing unusual in what James Galway said," Lord Trimble said.
"Its just he, like me, [is] old enough to remember what happened then."
The former Ulster Unionist leader said Paisley was not "indirectly responsible" but bore some responsibility for the outbreak of the Troubles.
The DUP's Gregory Campbell described Lord Trimbles comments as "disgraceful".
"The IRA campaign of 1952-62 was long before Ian Paisley came to prominence and terrorists still exist after his death," the East Derry MLA and MP said.
"Trimble is factually wrong the people responsible for the Troubles were the terrorists and anyone trying to place the blame elsewhere only serves to let the terrorists off the hook."
Trimble is allowing his desire for revisionism to get in the way of reality.
