Thanks to fellow blogger Brendan O'Neill for featuring the Letter at the top of his short piece on Irish weblogs. Our stats software has packed up for the rest of the week apparently, so I have no idea how many are reading it just now. If you have any comments, please send them in.
Terry McMenamin tries to get to grips with what is really driving the DUP's political agenda. In truth it is hard to get to the bottom of what that agenda really is, mostly because its representatives rarely give away any of their own thinking in public. They prefer going on the offensive. Having said that, Terry has found some interesting words from Iris Robinson which give rise to this analysis:
"The fear that the DUP feels toward this process reveals the fact that, with a level playing field, they hold little hope of maintaining the union in the long run. Claiming the desire to fulfill the wishes of the majority, they in truth only wish to appease the majority of the moment. Realizing that the proportion of Northern Ireland's voters favors Nationalism more each day, the DUP is anti-agreement because they know that any agreement that establishes majority rule on the only question that matters will eventually result in an end to their beloved union."
He may well have a point. Though I don't agree the demographic numbers will crunch down in quite this way, it is not inconcievable that many DUP members and supporters also beleive this to be the most likely future scenario.
But until we hear more from the DUP themselves that will remain subject to conjecture.
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