So here it comes, the DUP’s ultimatum to the Secretary of State:
DUP leader Peter Robinson has said his party would continue to talk, but warned that if devolution collapsed it could be a decade before it returned.
The first minister has held talks with the Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers but details of the ultimatum have not been made public.
No point in bluffing if your opponent’s don’t think you’ll do it [Oh really, will the bunny finally get it? – Ed] Maybe.
A ten year cordon would dump the GFA whilst the party scuttles to relative safety. It would also deal decisively with the issue of any further politically charged killings that might arise. Extreme, but the purpose is to force London’s legislative hand rather than to pull the columns of the Stormont temple down around everyone’s ears.
As an aside. Oliver Moody, writing in the London Times last week waxed on the moral virtues of Cicero:
Cicero knew that true statecraft takes two kinds of bravery: the bravery to make and publicly justify an unpopular but necessary fudge; and the bravery to risk everything when the time for fudging is over.
Move along now, nothing to see here. Not yet at least.
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
