Belfast, Northern Ireland - The Reverend Ian Paisley, who was once thrown out of the European parliament for verbally attacking the late Pope Jean Paul II, could meet the head of the Catholic church in Ireland for groundbreaking talks.
The Democratic Unionist party confirmed today that its party leader will take part if talks go ahead with the Catholic primate of all Ireland, Dr Sean Brady.
Last month, Archbishop Brady called for Unionist assurances on their commitment to power sharing and equality. The DUP's Londonderry East MP, Gregory Campbell, wrote to the archbishop shortly afterward.
Mr Campbell said today: "I had a meeting with Mr Paisley this morning and he is happy to have a meeting, as we have done in the past, with political and religious leaders.
"The only people we don't have meetings with are Sinn Féin because of their attitude to violence."
Archbishop Brady's spokesman, Martin Long, said: "Mr Campbell's letter and comments are a welcome development. Archbishop Brady looks forward to exploring the issues further in due course."
The DUP headquarters in Belfast confirmed that the party is willing to have a meeting in principle, but said that a date was still to be set.
"We would be happy to address Dr Brady's concerns about our commitment to power sharing," a spokesman said. "The Catholic church is obviously concerned about the welfare of Catholics. Similarly, we would like to raise our concerns about the welfare of Protestants."
Speaking in Milan two weeks ago, the archbishop said Catholics in Northern Ireland were anxiously awaiting signs that their religious convictions would be treated with respect, following the surprise success of the DUP at the general election.
He said he looked forward to "engagement with ministers from all parties", including the DUP, as part of a more "mature and confident" Northern Ireland. Anything less than a solution based on power sharing would be "extremely problematic", the primate added.
At the general election on May 5, the DUP's opposition to the Good Friday agreement helped it gain five seats, taking its total to nine of the province's 18. David Trimble, Nobel peace prize laureate and leader of the Ulster Unionists, lost his seat and resigned as party leader.
Mr Paisley has spent 30 years fighting against every political initiative to establish powersharing between Protestants and Catholics. He has condemned the "evils" of Irish republicanism and denounced the leaders of the more moderate Ulster Unionist party as traitors and sympathisers of a united Ireland.
In 1988 he famously shouted "I denounce you, Antichrist", several times during the Pope's visit to the European parliament.