Northern Ireland drearier post Paisley

By Paul Hoskins - Analysis

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ian Paisley's departure as Northern Ireland's first minister will make for a less colourful and perhaps frostier political landscape, but politicians in the province seem too heavily invested in peace to turn back now.

Belfast's city centre, for example, once encircled by a "Ring of Steel" cordon to deter gunmen, last week unveiled a vast shopping centre with a 35-metre high glass dome that would have looked hopelessly vulnerable to bombs a decade ago.

The 400-million-pound Victoria Square development is backed by Dutch and German investors and is a gleaming example of the foreign investment and peace dividend that Paisley has made it his mission to reap.

Paisley, 81, said this week he would step down as head of Northern Ireland's regional government in May -- just a year after the Protestant cleric set aside decades of hatred of Catholic foes and agreed to share power with them.

A fierce defender of sovereignty in the province with his battle-cry of "No Surrender", the physically-imposing preacher-politician towered over its political scene for decades.

News of his departure triggered tributes from both sides to a "colossus" and a "giant" even if some still blame his intransigence for failure to achieve peace earlier.

Yet the absence of such a commanding presence looks unlikely to leave an unsettling void.

"I don't go along with the idea of a power vacuum because there's going to be a very quick and smooth transition," said Ed Moloney, author of "Paisley: From Demagogue to Democrat?"