Ronson recalls ‘Dr Paisley, I Presume’ and Cameroon with fondness

Referring to ‘Dr Paisley, I Presume,’ which followed the late icon on an evangelical mission in Cameroon, Mr Ronson tweeted: “I had a fantastic week with him in Cameroon and ended up having big respect for him. No ego or hypocrisy.”

The Welsh reporter, whose works such as ‘The Men Who Stare at goats’ and ‘Frank’ have been adapted for the big screen, also commented: “I always respected that about him and would say to reluctant, thin-skinned interviewees, ‘be more like Ian Paisley.’”

He did qualify the remarks, however, by stating: “I can see that me saying nice things about Ian Paisley isn’t convincing lots of people. All I can say is that although he was bullish and intimidating and a bit racist and a bit of a bully, I have happy memories of our week and ended up respecting him.”

He also referred to how Dr Paisley jokingly to him as “my circumcised friend” and that his first ever words to him when he was filming him at his church, was: “Can someone get this boy out of here.”

Mr Ronson also recalled staying with Dr Paisley in a hotel in Cameroon.

“One hotel I stayed at with Ian Paisley in Cameroon, there was a painting of a topless woman on the wall.

“I saw him from the corridor, he didn’t know I was watching him, he took the painting down and put it in the wardrobe.

“Same hotel - the carpet was full of insects. He saw me standing there looking at the carpet in horror. He said, ‘it’s not so bad.’”