It seems to me that the Rev Ian Paisley isn't as tough talking as he once was.Here's what he had to say on the prospect of a fresh attempt to broker a power-sharing agreement with Sinn Fein:

"There's no chance of a deal until the IRA are brought to heel and made amenable to the law.Seeing is believeing that they are going,all criminality must cease,and the people of Northern Ireland must be convinced that they have ceased.

"That will take more than one month to convince us.I would say it will take many months."

So he is not ruling out the prospect of a power-sharing agreement.Has Paisley mellowed with old age?No,rather he is just like every other politician-he craves power.

There's a great quote by Stanislaw Lec which I think sums up Paisley's carrer pretty well:

"When smashing monuments,save the pedestals-they always come in handy."