Spare a thought tomorrow for the delegates to the Ulster Unionist Council nearly 900 of whom will heading for a four hour, no holds barred meeting to decide whether or not the party leadership has the right to expell three of its most senior players for resigning the party whip. Rival parties will also be keeping a close eye on events in Belfast’s Ulster Hall.
In the run up there have been warnings and counterwarnings of the consequences of an unsatisfactory outcome; though what that might be depends on which side of the divide you stand. Dissident leaders such as Jeffrey Donaldson are worried about the possibility of a party party split and appear to be pursuing talks with Reg Empey to come up with an alternative leadership arrangement to draw support from across the party. Althought this is something Empey, for his part at least, sees more in terms of mediation than positive arrangements.
Will it provide the definative moment various of the main players have been promising? If it does, it will certainly be big news. Considering that Jeffrey Donaldson has pledged to continue talks to come up with an alternative until Monday and Tuesday, and David Trimble has promised to put himself up for a leadership challenge if he loses tomorrow, the meeting will have to muster a major shift in the number of delegates out of one camp into the other.
If there is news, we will try to bring it to you as soon as we hear from the Hall.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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