Peter Robinson can come in for criticism for wearing his First Minister’s hat to push a DUP wish-list.

The DUP leader strutted the stage of a famous stomping ground for unionist leaders - the Ulster Hall - yesterday to formally welcome his former Scottish counterpart, ex-Edinburgh First Minister Jack McConnell to a seminar. Its theme was how devolution can deliver with Mr McConnell seeing how the Scottish Executive at least partially achieved what the Stormont Executive has arguably yet to attempt - how to improve the public perception of its performance.

Mr Robinson has made no secret of the fact that his party is unhappy with the current Stormont mechanisms and arrangements and intends to move towards more “normalised” democracy.

In his view that will mean dropping the current ‘community designation’ under which MLAs are labelled unionist or nationalist or ‘other’ and would require a whole new voting system.

The aim would be to end the inertia which currently dogs the entire Belfast administration and ensure that no one party can automatically veto a proposal - even in circumstances where other parties have achieved a majority.

But there would be many problems. The current political structures reflect a divided society, the need to protect minorities is enshrined in both the spirit and mechanisms of the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements, and the two governments understandably settle for slow progress rather than no progress. But if Sinn Fein in particular can be persuaded change is not designed to exclude republicans - and, in the short term at least, that is a tall order - the First Ministers’ proposals merit serious consideration.