NOEL McAdam reports that the DUP executive will meet next week to approve any deal that may emerge to restore devolution. McAdam points out that the “80-strong body can ratify a deal without a wider party meeting – unlike the regular UUP Council meetings of recent years – and could be summoned within 48 hours”.Jeffrey Donaldson said: “It would be wrong to go into great detail because negotiations are at such a sensitive stage but at the moment we don’t have sufficient progress.”
Wonder what Jeffrey thinks of the DUP organisational structure – if he disagrees with the way forward, will he find it as easy to find enough support to call DUP executive meetings as he did Ulster Unionist Council meetings?
And are the electoral benefits of a more centralised party structure not obvious by now to the more loosely-knit – if not completely disunited – Ulster Unionist Party/ies?