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Ian Paisley Snr pictured in 2010 PETER MORRISON/AP/Press Association Images
Ian Paisley

Ian Paisley making 'good recovery' in hospital

The former DUP leader’s son said there is “life in the old dog yet”, according to reports.

FORMER DUP LEADER Ian Paisley is making good progress in hospital after being admitted to intensive care with heart problems, his son has said.

The 85-year-old was taken to hospital in Belfast earlier this month, and few details have emerged about his condition since then.

But his son Ian Paisley Jnr said the former Northern Ireland First Minister was making “steady progress”. “There is life in the old dog yet”, he told the BBC.

Paisley Jnr, now an MP for North Antrim, also said there had been an outpouring of support for the controversial leader, who led the DUP into power-sharing with Sinn Féin after decades of fierce opposition.

“We have received messages from right across the community expressing their love and thoughts and prayers for dad,” Paisley Jnr told the Belfast Newsletter.

He said his father’s recovery was “an answer to prayer”.

Paisley Snr’s friend and colleague Rev Alan Smylie told TheJournal.ie earlier this month that people of “all shades, opinions and denominations” had expressed their goodwill for the ailing politician – with special prayers for his recovery even being requested at a family funeral.

He has now been in hospital for more than two weeks after being admitted on February 5.

More: Ian Paisley to spend sixth night in hospital>

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