THE result of the local elections in Northern Ireland was no great surprise on the one hand, but a massive shock on the other. Predictions for many years were that the nationalist vote was growing and that the unionist one was splintering. So, while Sinn Féin garnered the most first preferences, the fact that combined unionist votes are still slightly ahead of combined nationalist votes – at 40% and 38% respectively, is noteworthy.
And despite Sinn Féin’s victory dance, it takes two to tango in the sensitive balancing act that is Stormont.
This week DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said his party won’t be back power-sharing unless issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol are resolved.
And so, to Anglicise French novelist Alphonse Karr in the 1800s, the more things change, the more things stay the same.
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