Former British prime minister

Tony Blair

said Ian Paisley was a man whose convictions never changed, but he was a man whose understanding of the possibilities for peace did change over four decades at the top of Northern Irish politics.

"Over time I got to know him well. He could be an uncompromising, even intransigent opponent. But he was also someone who loved Northern Ireland and its people. He led them but he also followed them.

“When they said to him peace was thinkable, he made it possible,” said Blair, who clashed frequently with Paisley during the negotiation of the Good Friday agreement and a succession of talks that followed.

Prime minister David Cameron said Mr Paisley had been "one of the most forceful and instantly recognisable characters in British politics for nearly half a century".

Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, who became close to Paisley when the two shared an office in the House of Commons during Mr Salmond's first stint as an MP, described his former room-mate as "a warm, personable fellow MP, despite the obvious differences in our political outlook".

Labour leader Ed Miliband said Paisley's decision to enter government with Sinn Féin was "the ultimate act of political courage and reconciliation".

Labour’s NI spokesman, Ivan Lewis said he had been “greatly saddened” to hear of Paisley’s death, adding that it gave an opportunity to look back at “the enormous progress made since the darkest days of the Troubles”.