Ian Paisley: Nationalism only survives by talking down Northern Ireland

The bitter row started after a proposal was put to the unionist-dominated Mid and East Antrim Council to mark the centenary of the formation of the Province in 2021.

The DUP motion calls on the local authority to celebrate the achievements of people from the Province, and to commemorate significant events that have taken place over the last century, including the Second World War, the Belfast Blitz and the Troubles.

Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy has described the move as “an attempt to rewrite the history of the brutality and repression created by partition”.