An era ended in Northern Ireland yesterday when Peter Robinson was voted in unopposed to become leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, the hardline unionist grouping created by his mentor, the Rev Ian Paisley.

Immediately after the vote by the 36 DUP members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Robinson signalled that a new style in office would soon become apparent, with the ending of the so-called Chuckle Brothers partnership, formed by Mr Paisley as First Minister and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein as his deputy.

The two men, who have been bitter political foes for decades, were given the nickname on reviving the Stormont executive nearly a year ago, for their habit of laughing uproariously in one another’s company every time they appeared in public.

Mr Robinson said: “In terms of style there will only ever be one Ian Paisley. It would be a very foolish person to set out to try and mimic him.

“Each leader will bring their own style and skills to the job and, I think, whoever the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party will be, they will have to recognise that they follow in the shoes of someone who had the party formed around them. Therefore, there will be a requirement for a more collective and corporate decision-making process.”

Mr McGuinness said yesterday: “Now, you’re not going to get Chuckle Brothers, Part Two. What you are going to get are serious-minded people hopefully taking serious decisions, and I am going to strive and endeavour to bring to all of this to the same sort of positive and constructive approach that I had during the time that Ian Paisley was there. We’ll see what happens between Peter Robinson and I in the time ahead but I think the omens are good.”

Irish newspapers have coined a new name for the Robinson-McGuinness partnership: “The Brothers Grim”.

Mr Robinson later met Brian Cowen, the Irish Finance Minister, who is to replace Bertie Ahern as Prime Minister of the Republic next month, around the time that Mr Paisley retires.

Mr Paisley and Mr Ahern hit it off as leaders of the two parts of Ireland, and Mr Cowen and Mr Robinson appeared keen to demonstrate the same level of commitment to the new relationship.

Mr Cowen was in Belfast for an announcement that could lead to 5,000 financial-sector jobs for the city, evidence of deepening economic cooperation between Northern Ireland and the South.

Mr Robinson and Nigel Dodds, the Economy Minister, were unanimously endorsed by the 36-member Assembly Group as their choice for leader and deputy leader. Ratification by the party executive on Thursday will be a formality.

Mr Robinson was born in East Belfast in December 1948, went to a grammar school and first worked as an estate agent. He built a powerbase in Castlereagh Borough Council in East Belfast, where a sports complex was named after him. His wife, Iris, is Westminster MP for Strangford as well as an Assembly member. The couple have three children.

In protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Mr Robinson, as MP for East Belfast in 1986, led 500 loyalists on a “raid” over the Irish border into the village of Clontibret, Co Monaghan, to demonstrate failings in security. He pleaded guilty to unlawful assembly and was fined £17,500 by a court in Drogheda. He resigned briefly from the DUP deputy leadership after the episode.

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