The Rev Ian Paisley says political leaders - including the Irish Government - brought the Dublin and Monaghan bombings on themselves.
In a TV interview for BBC Northern Ireland, the former DUP leader described the attitude of the Irish government to the North as "ridiculous".
33 people were killed in the Dublin Monaghan bombings in 1974, carried out by loyalist paramilitaries.
No one has ever been prosecuted.
In a two part interview with BBC Northern Ireland, Ian Paisley said he was shocked by the bombings and denounced them at the time - but he said he also couldn't tell people to "sit down and let them put a rope around your neck".
He said the Irish government brought the bombings on themselves because of their "ridiculous" attitude to the north.
The former Stormont first minister also described discrimination against Catholics in the north as unacceptable but described the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s as a front for a united Ireland.
The interview will be broadcast next week.
