But I don't think the true significance of the Bertie and Ian show at Galgorm Resort and Spa last Friday has been properly appreciated.

I have memories of an Ian Paisley marching at the head of band parades, not an inch was his pledge and no surrender was his battlecry.

For those whose loyalty to the Paisley brand of unionism was unquestioning and unflinching, the sight of the jovial figure jesting with the Prime Minister of Ireland just a few miles from the centre of Ballymena must have been hard to take.

It was certainly a visibly heartbreaking moment for Ruby Gillespie, a woman who devoted most of her adult life to supporting her husband Roy in his role as a sure and steadfast DUP councillor.

In that role, Roy Gillespie followed the lead of the man he revered as 'The Doc' through thick and thin.

The Ahoghill man's deeply held religious beliefs combined with his utter rejection of any compromise with republicans often landed him in the glare of publicity .. BAD publicity.

Roy and Ruby Gillespie would literally have laid down their lives for the man they considered to be the saviour of the faith and the staunchest defender of their personal version of loyal Ulster.

In years to come, I contend that Ruby's almost tearful condemnation of Ian Paisley's radically altered political stance will feature in academic texts and retrospective documentaries.

She defined, in the most passionate terms, just how hurt, confused and abandoned those who were stalwarts of Ian Paisley's Praetorian Guard now feel.

The almost physical nature of her pain was evident as she faced up to the cameras. Desolate would probably be the best adjective to describe her mood.

But give Roy and Ruby Gillespie credit. They stood for their beliefs. They made their protest. They ignored the sniggers of cynical hacks for whom the pair were just the Ballymena equivalent of rednecks. In short, they made their stand. They could do no other.

Which begs the question ..where were the other dissidents? A two-person protest was a pretty feeble example of the supposed wave of opposition which we are continually told is building in the unionist community against the 'New Stormont' administration.

Don't tell me that no-one knew about the visit. That won't wash. Roy and Ruby knew about it.

In fact, anyone with the slightest interest in current affairs would have known about it.

Roy and Ruby turned up, voiced their anger and received a hearing.
And the rest of the world moved on.

The First Minister, freely using the gaelic word Taiseoch in his speeches, talked of new opportunities, new relationships, new jobs.
Both men were statesmanlike.

They met, they grinned, they did business. They were men of the moment.

Roy and Ruby were desperately hoping for the return of the man from their past. Perhaps I should have said they harboured a forlorn hope.

I cannot believe that Ian Paisley does not feel the pain exuded by the Gillespies and others like them but I'm equally sure he balances that compassion with a steely determination to progress on his political journey.

The old cliché states that 'the past is a different country, they did things differently there' … Ian Paisley and the DUP are now not only in a different country to the Gillespies, they're in a different universe.

The warp drive is on factor 5 and big Ian is on a course to boldly go where no unionist politican has gone before. Roy,

Ruby and those who share their views would like to see the DUP Starship crash and burn … but there are two chances of that happening. Slim and none.

And, as they say, 'Slim has left town'.