Rhonda Paisley

Rhonda Paisley (born 1960) is an author, and former politician from Northern Ireland. She is the daughter of the late DUP leader and Northern Ireland's former First Minister Ian Paisley, is unmarried, and lives with her mother in the family home.^[1] She attended Bob Jones University in the United States (the same institution from which her father received his honorary degree), where she was awarded a BA in Fine Art.

Political career

Paisley served as a Belfast City councillor for the DUP. Sammy Wilson named her as Lady Mayoress during his tenure as first DUP Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1986/87.

Media career

Paisley once guest-presented Saturday Live, a TV chat-show on the Republic of Ireland's RTÉ One channel. Her father was one of her guests.

Controversy

The day after a series of "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF) incendiary bombings on shops in the Republic of Ireland during July 1991, Paisley claimed the bombings had been "perfectly understandable" given the "betrayal" of Northern Ireland by the British government.^[2] A serving DUP councillor at the time, Paisley was widely condemned in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Legal action

Paisley took a case to a Fair Employment Tribunal in 1998. The case was against the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, in which she alleged religious discrimination.^[3] The case was raised in 1998 and Paisley was awarded £24,249. The ruling was that she had been discriminated against on account of her religious beliefs and political opinions when applying for the post of an arts co-operation officer in 1995.

Up until 2004, Paisley worked as her father's assistant while he was a member of the European Parliament. When he stood down, she became unemployed and stood forward for a position within the DUP. In March 2005 Paisley launched a legal action alleging gender discrimination against the DUP, which named her father, Ian Paisley, after she failed in her application for a post in the policy and communications unit in the DUP.^[4]

References