Solemn memorial where once Paisley preached hellfire

But the Ulster Hall yesterday witnessed a dignified and reverential service, in complete contrast to the original Paisley trademark of making its rafters ring with hellfire and damnation rhetoric.

In this it mirrored the arc of a career which took him to Britain's House of Lords as eventual peacemaker, before his death last month at the age of 88. His late conversion to the politics of peace meant that one of those attending yesterday was the Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness.

The service itself largely excluded political Paisleyism, focusing instead on his role as a church leader.

In her tribute, Mr Paisley's widow described their 58-year marriage as "not a dictatorship, but a partnership".

She said: "Ian was one of the happiest men on earth. He was happy in his pulpit, in his incredible zest for life, in the three parliaments in which he served.

"He rejoiced in the help he could give through these offices to many afflicted and persecuted people across the world, securing freedom for quite a number."

The Rev Kyle Paisley, one of the sons of the North's First Minister, described him as one of the most gifted preachers of his generation. But in a rare political moment he also spoke of his father's "fair-weather friends". This is taken as a pointed reference to senior members of the Democratic Unionist Party who nudged him out in 2008.

Mr Paisley's successor as party leader and First Minister, Peter Robinson, attended, sitting alongside Mr McGuinness. The two never developed a close relationship, instead developing a frostiness which has brought the Belfast Assembly to near-breakdown.

Others attending yesterday included the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and Eamon O Cuiv, and Mary Hanafin of Fianna Fail.