BELFAST - The favorite to become the new Protestant leader in Northern Ireland is Peter Robinson, who first gained international attention two decades ago by leading a mob attack on an Irish border village.
While he since has grown into one of Northern Ireland's most polished and formidable politicians, many people wonder whether the likely successor to the charismatic Ian Paisley will be as willing - or able - to keep governing alongside Roman Catholics in the fledgling power-sharing administration for this British territory.
Robinson has been the 81-year-old Paisley's savvy and steely deputy for three decades within the Democratic Unionist Party and is the finance minister in the 10-month-old government.
Several government insiders said yesterday they expect Robinson to be elected unchallenged as party leader and take over as the administration chief to replace the increasingly frail Paisley when he steps down from both posts in May.
Paisley founded the Democratic Unionists 37 years ago to swing a wrecking ball at compromise with Catholics, but the blunt-speaking evangelist transformed the party over the past three years into a champion of power-sharing.
It has never had another leader, and analysts agree Robinson stands no chance of marshaling the power of Paisley's personality cult. The big question is what that will mean for power-sharing, the central achievement of Northern Ireland's Good Friday accord, the US-brokered peace pact that will be 10 years old next month.
Robinson, not Paisley, has been the party's dominant negotiator. He is widely credited with persuading Paisley to stay at the table during critical diplomatic junctures. But some politicians fear that the changing of the guard will inevitably destabilize the administration because many Protestants oppose sharing power, and their alienation will flare once Paisley leaves the stage.
Britain and Ireland devised power-sharing as the best way to bring both sides' extremists together in compromise and consign to history the 1968-98 conflict that left more than 3,700 dead. Robinson, 59, first grabbed widespread notice in 1986 when he led a mob that smashed up an Irish village and beat up two police officers.
Much like Paisley, Robinson flirted with anti-Catholic paramilitarism, served a prison sentence for inciting violence, and has mellowed over the past decade of peacemaking. Unlike his fiery-tonged mentor, Robinson displays none of Paisley's warmth and humor alongside his new Catholic colleagues in government.
