Will she be gone by tonight? Temporarily or permanently?
No one better than historian Eamonn Phoenix to put it into context.
The resulting loss of a Unionist majority at Stormont for the first time has shocked Unionism to its core. The political and, especially, the psychological implications of this as the centenary of Partition approaches in 2021, should not be underestimated.
Is there any more to say except wait on events? And perhaps spare a thought for Mike Nesbitt. Did he quit too soon? Well OK, so the SDLP survived and Alliance fared best ever. But compared to this? Shades of the falls of Terence O’Neill and Brian Faulkner.
Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London
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