Ian Paisley’s grip on power weakened yesterday when his son, his right-hand man, was forced to resign from the Northern Ireland government amid sleaze allegations.

The First Minister made no immediate comment on the sudden announcement by his son, Ian Paisley Jr, that he was standing down as a junior minister in the power-sharing Executive. But with his own powers diminishing and an increasing reliance upon his son to steer him through his duties at Stormont, the odds on Mr Paisley making good his pledge to serve a full term in the Province’s top political role have been drastically shortened.

Pressure on Mr Paisley Jr to resign had been mounting ever since the disclosure of his association with a property developer’s controversial plans to win the contract to build a privately owned visitors’ centre for the Giants Causeway. Mr Paisley Jr admitted only that he “knew of” Seymour Sweeney — a member of the Democratic Unionist Party — when the controversy first arose, but it emerged that he had purchased a house in Bushmills, Co Antrim, from the developer. Mr Paisley Jr insisted that he paid its full market value, but there was further controversy over why the property remained registered in the name of Mr Sweeney’s wife.

Mr Paisley Jr lobbied Tony Blair, while he was Prime Minister, on behalf of the Giants Causeway development in the margins of the 2006 St Andrews agreement negotiations, which led to Mr Paisley going into government with Martin McGuinness and Sinn Fein. He even got his father to sign an irate letter to the Heritage Lottery Fund complaining that Mr Sweeney’s Giants Causeway proposals had not received grant funding.

Last week it was revealed that Mr Paisley and his son were claiming £62,500 annually from the public purse to rent a constituency office in Ballymena. This is far in excess of the cost of any other office space rented by a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA). The director of the company that purchased the property, Sarcon 250, was Seymour Sweeney. Control of Sarcon 250 was then transferred from Mr Sweeney to Mr Paisley Jr’s father-in-law, James Currie.

It was unclear yesterday whether the Northern Ireland Assembly permits MLAs to claim rental expenses for offices owned by family members — a practice that is not allowed at Westminster.

Earlier this month Mr Paisley Jr was forced to defend the revelation that he is also paid as a Westminster researcher for his father while drawing salaries for being an MLA and a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Mr Paisley Jr refused to answer any questions yesterday as he read a statement. “With a certain degree of sadness I have informed the First Minister [his father] of my intention to resign from ministerial office,” he said.

“I can’t express strongly enough that I am not going because of some hidden or some revealed wrongdoing on my part.” He added that he was not going to stand down as Assembly member for North Antrim, but acknowledged that a series of stories about his lobbying on behalf of Mr Sweeney had taken their toll.

“The past ten months have not been without controversy,” he said. “Personal criticism, unfounded allegations, innuendo and attacks on me personally, followed by Ombudsman’s reports that have cleared me — this relentless period of criticism by those who have decided on this path has been unceasing.” He said it was clear that some opponents wanted him to be a distraction from the work being done by the Executive and by the DUP. “I will not serve that purpose. What is more, I refuse to be a convenient excuse to attack the position of the leader of my party.”

His party colleague, Gregory Campbell, MP for East Londonderry, said: “It will give everyone, including Ian Jr, time for a breather, to have space and consider his future. That is in the best interests of everyone.”

Declan O’Loan, the SDLP assembly member, said that attention would still be focused on the DUP’s links with Mr Sweeney. “The spotlight now switches to Ian Paisley Sr. I think the public will be saying one Paisley has gone, when is the other going to go?”

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