The Rev Ian Paisley and his son Ian jnr travelled to Edinburgh last night for what will be one of the last junior ministerial appointments for Mr Paisley, amid continuing speculation about how long Dr Paisley will remain as the North's First Minister.
Dr Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, and junior ministers Mr Paisley jnr and Gerry Kelly will meet the Scottish first minister Alex Salmond at Edinburgh Castle today, and also visit the Scottish parliament. They joined Mr Salmond for a private dinner at Edinburgh Castle last night.
Senior party sources continue to acknowledge that the DUP leadership succession is now a major issue within the party but that when Dr Paisley steps down he will do so with dignity and, it is hoped, without any sense of his being forced to resign as DUP leader and First Minister.
"There will be a smooth transition, whenever it happens," one party source said. "Dr Paisley himself has acknowledged that he isn't getting any younger, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Dr Paisley will make up his own mind on the matter."
Dr Paisley will be 82 in April. His son, as a junior minister with the Northern Executive, has been on hand to provide personal and practical assistance for Dr Paisley since he took office as First Minister in May last year.
His absence from the Executive will make it difficult for him to provide that same level of support in the future.
Yesterday at noon Paddy Power bookmakers offered odds of 4/5 that Dr Paisley would stand down this year but by 4.30pm those odds were slashed further to 2/7. The odds of his retiring next year were 9/2, 6/1 in 2010, 12/1 in 2011 and 25/1 in 2012 or later.
Minister for Finance Peter Robinson was the 1/4 favourite to replace him with Minister for the Economy Nigel Dodds 5/1 to take the post.
Unionist politicians will be keeping a careful eye on the personal chemistry between Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness in Edinburgh today, where they are due to hold a press conference at about noon.
Some DUP members cite the natural warmth the two exude together - the so-called "Chuckle Brothers" effect - as one of the reasons for prompting former DUP supporters to vote against the party in the recent Dromore byelection which the DUP lost.
Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson and other DUP politicians, obviously referring to that relationship, said the party must make "presentational changes" in how it does business, particularly with Sinn Féin.
Mr Paisley may make a statement to the Assembly next week on why he resigned as junior minister.
One DUP source said he was motivated to resign to "protect his father" from attack within the party following the list of embarrassing disclosures about his political and business dealing, and in particular his relationship with north Antrim businessman Seymour Sweeney.
While Mr Paisley has insisted that he did not engage in any wrongdoing, and while no allegations of illegal activity have been made against him, the accumulation of revelations were viewed as damaging the party, as well as himself, and that he therefore had to resign.
Last month Traditional Unionist Voice MEP Jim Allister, formerly of the DUP, released information, obtained under freedom of information legislation, about how Mr Paisley lobbied then British prime minister Tony Blair at the St Andrews talks in October 2006 about issues in north Antrim, including the Giant's Causeway and a land deal at Ballee in which Mr Sweeney was involved.
