Ian Paisley’s hard-learned lesson should guide co-ops

By Paul Henle

Ian Paisley said farewell to politics this week.

For over 40 years, Ian Paisley epitomized belligerence, confrontation and antagonism. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland he steadfastly stood in the way of any attempt to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.

He was arrested many times and his oratory and demands caused days of rioting on several occasions.

No one ever accused him of being a good cooperator.

Until 2007.

In that year Paisley agreed to cooperate with Sinn Fein (the political party associated with the Irish Republican Army) and to share the duties of governing Northern Ireland. On May 8, Paisley was elected First Minister of Northern Ireland and his former enemy, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, was elected Deputy First Minister.

Since then, Northern Ireland has been at peace.

If it can happen in Northern Ireland, it can happen in your cooperative.

All organizations have factions. All have competing groups with different ideas about how things should be done. Sometimes these differences lead to animosity, yelling and even physical confrontations. In Northern Ireland they led to killing.

What these factions must do, what these factions did in Northern Ireland, is realize that for the organization to survive, they must find a way for everyone to work together and cooperate.

As Paisley said in his last speech as a leader: “You will only have a stable government if all parties, irrespective of their differences, sign up to support the rule of law and the institutions of the state.”

It’s not easy, but it can be done.

Paul Henle is a ROC-NH Cooperative Conversion Specialist.

ROC-NH is a program of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, Inc. and a ROC USA™ Certified Technical Provider

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