Will Jeffrey Make our Christmas Dreams Come True?

It is almost December and the excitement is growing, will Santa Jeffrey make our Xmas dreams come true?

When we unwrap our Xmas present, will the colourful wrapping paper hide an unchanged Windsor Framework Box, and when we open that will we find the NI Protocol inside with minimal changes? Or will it contain a ‘Supermajority’ for the Border poll? Is Emma LP still hoping to be the fairy at the top of the Christmas Tree or will Michelle get her wings?

The choice is not just down to Jeffrey; the views of the 3 Kings of Westminster (Sammy, Nigel and Ian) will have to be taken into account and Santa’ little helper from Donaghadee already seems to have linked up with the Traditional Grinch of N. Antrim. Will Mervyn Gibson follow the star back to Stormont, or encourage Jeffrey to lead his flock into the wilderness?

Peter (the Ghost of Christmas Past) was correct, you don’t always get everything you want for Christmas or in negotiations, but the most important gift has already been delivered for the DUP. We were all shocked when the Lucid Talk poll of August 2021 placed them at only 13% of the vote but with their Protocol Protests, they are now back at a healthy 25%, and to some, that is what really matters.  The two years of angry protests were more about covering up for the DUP’s mistaken trust in Boris and Brexit, than about achieving any real change for the people of N. Ireland.  They were putting party before country.

So, what of the future?

The ‘Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’, whose gravestone is he pointing to?  Will it be that of Jeffrey, or does Jeffrey’s Christmas box already contain Ermine robes?

Either way, last year you might not have given the DUP your heart (apologies George Michael) but if you were Unionist, you probably gave them your vote.  This year, will you give it to someone better?

Arnold Carton

Arnold is a retired teacher from Lisburn, now living in Belfast.