FACTBOX - Key facts about N.Ireland's Ian Paisley

(Reuters) - Fundamentalist Protestant cleric Ian Paisley will step down as Northern Ireland's First Minister in May.

Here are some facts about him:

* Born in 1926 in Armagh, the son of a dissident Baptist minister, he delivered his first sermon aged 16 and founded his own breakaway Free Presbyterian Church in 1951. Critical of the Catholic Church, Paisley once called the Pope "the Anti-Christ"

* Emerged as a political force in the 1960s, leading protests over issues such as the flying of Irish flags in Belfast. In 1971 he founded the Democratic Unionist Party which became the province's biggest political party in 2005.

* His defence of Northern Ireland's position within the United Kingdom -- encapsulated in the war cry "No Surrender" -- and his hostility toward the Catholic Church made him a hero to many Protestants but a rabble-rousing bigot to many Catholics.

* First elected to the British parliament in 1970 and to the European parliament in 1979, he was viewed as a spent force after opposing a 1998 peace deal but his uncompromising stance later won him support from disillusioned Protestants.

* Paisley became First Minister in May 2007 after a deal to share power with the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein. He and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness -- a former IRA commander -- have been dubbed "the chuckle brothers" following a string of unexpectedly jovial joint appearances.

(Reporting by Paul Hoskins)