“David was not cold and uncaring. He cared more, loved more, than any politician I have ever known, but critically, like his religious faith, he rarely showed it.”
Sefcovic’s language in response was more assuaging than we have seen from Brussels in previous UK-EU rows.
“I want the Prime Minister to give that commitment. No more words: we need action here in Northern Ireland.”
With the Assembly elections in May fast approaching, it is clear that there is a finite time horizon for these negotiations to bear fruit.
Among those who are set to vote for a party in the Assembly elections, we find Sinn Féin in the lead.
Also: Donaldson to lead DUP from Westminster after no MLA will make room for him in Stormont.
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Poots has purged Foster’s old team and nominated an ex-spad as First Minister. These do not suggest confidence.
The Nationalists themselves are doing everything they can to minimise their central policy. All the materials for denying their mandate are there.
The Prime Minister’s tour of the United Kingdom sees him square off against nationalists from Sinn Fein, the SNP… and Welsh Labour.
Strengthening Ulster’s bonds with the mainland starts with ending the de facto exile of its unionist politics – if Johnson and Foster have the imagination and will to see it done.
The issue of the backstop is becoming more heated and harder to navigate as time goes by.
The DUP’s Westminster Leader says the Irish border issue is being exploited by people who want “to thwart leaving the EU if they can”.
For all its compromises and ambiguities, it is the only practicable means to hand of giving the province something approaching normalcy.
I would have preferred a negotiated solution to the sea border, but in the face of EU intransigence the new prime minister must protect the Union.