IAN PAISLEY jnr, who was yesterday cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the purchase of a house from a north Antrim developer, has said he would have expected more support from his DUP colleagues when he was under pressure.
Assembly ombudsman Tom Frawley dismissed a complaint from SDLP Assembly member John Dallat that Mr Paisley jnr benefited from developer Seymour Sweeney providing him with a home in Bushmills, Co Antrim, that was not declared on the Assembly's register of members' interests.
Mr Paisley said had Mr Frawley's report come out earlier he would not have resigned as a junior minister with the Northern Executive in February. His father, the Rev Ian Paisley said it was now possible for Mr Paisley to be returned as a minister. DUP headquarters was making no comment on the issue.
Mr Dallat's complaint was based on a newspaper article and sources which he was not prepared to identify. While Mr Frawley said the protocol was that a complaint on such a basis should not be entertained he nonetheless carried out a detail examination of the complaint with the co-operation of Mr Paisley and found there was no evidence to substantiate the allegation.
Mr Frawley accepted Mr Paisley's evidence that he paid the full market value of the house to Mr Sweeney and that it was due to an "administrative hiccough", as Mr Paisley said, that the property was registered in the name of Mr Sweeney's wife.
The issue of the house - plus other business interests that Mr Paisley had with Mr Sweeney - was one of the reasons that forced Mr Paisley to resign as junior minister in February. It was a resignation that was viewed as accelerating the recent resignation of Dr Paisley as first minister and DUP leader, and facilitating the installation in these posts of Peter Robinson.
Mr Paisley has consistently said he did nothing wrong and said the report of Mr Frawley justified him in his view.
There were suggestions and suspicions at the time of his resignation that some elements in the DUP - who wanted to see an end of the Paisley influence, both senior and junior - were happy to see Mr Paisley in such difficulty, because his father would be damaged by the fallout.
Asked by Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio Ulster whether he was happy with the level of DUP support at the time, Mr Paisley replied, "I think that, yes, I could have expected more support."
He added: "I must say that if the allegations were made against my colleagues I would like to think that I'd be big enough to support them until they were proved to be guilty or innocent."
When asked did he think Mr Robinson had any part in the matter Mr Paisley at first said such questions should be put to the new First Minister.
When pressed about whether he believed Mr Robinson might have been following such an agenda he replied, "I don't believe he did, no."
Mr Paisley said Mr Robinson enjoyed his support.
"I think Peter is going to make and is making a great First Minister. It's very, very hard for anyone to follow in the footsteps of a person who has been particularly charismatic and Peter will have to do, and is doing, it his way. I think in the weeks and months ahead Northern Ireland will benefit from his leadership."
Dr Paisley, supporting his son, said: "If somebody putting the worst construction on something can make a man out to be a villain and he clears himself in court then why would he not be made a minister? He won the case that was put against him and it was put for deliberate political reasons."