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It's one of the oldest cliches in the book, but a week really is a long time in politics. Exactly seven days ago the election in Northern Ireland looked set to throw up another dose of the same old, same old.
As in February 1974, the intervention of an unplanned general election has impacted enormously on our local politics. In 1974, the election of 11 anti-power-sharing unionist MPs severely undermined the support for the Chief Minister, Brian Faulkner, and contributed greatly to the overthrow of the power-sharing Executive in May of that year.
With just 24 hours to go to D-day for a deal to be signed between the DUP and the Tories to allow Theresa May to form a government both sides are playing coy over what is being discussed.
"Money, that's what I want." It's a Beatles song from 1963, though originally a Tamla Motown track. It is also probably a fair indicator of what is on the script for the DUP's negotiations with Theresa May. Whatever else Arlene Foster and her colleagues are looking for, it is a fair bet that more finance is in there.
Arlene Foster must hardly be able to believe her luck. For a period of months she was unable to catch a break. It seemed any attempt to fight back on the RHI controversy was doomed to misfire.
There is, as David Trimble said on the BBC Today programme yesterday morning, a "fair amount of scaremongering" going on about how a deal between the Conservatives and DUP could threaten the peace process and much else.
As the dust settles in the aftermath of the General Election, the DUP finds itself in the extraordinary position of being the kingmaker at Westminster, and propping up Theresa May's minority government.
In the wake of the fiasco, otherwise known as the Conservative election campaign, Theresa May stated in Downing Street that the country needs 'certainty' and that she, propped up by the DUP, would provide it. At that point I fell off the sofa. Minority governments in the UK are uncertain affairs and rarely, to coin a phrase, strong and stable.
I spent all Thursday night watching the election results in a Budapest hotel room and some hours on Saturday at a social event in Dublin having a post-mortem with anyone who was interested.
Now is the moment for unionism and for Northern Ireland. An opportunity not to be missed. A chance in a political lifetime not to be fluffed.
Who are the DUP? It's a question now reverberating around the drawing rooms of the English chattering classes. Let me be of some assistance.
The collective chorus of condemnation directed by Sinn Fein at the Tories for asking for the DUP's help to stay in government has been ear-splitting.
Sinn Fein's ongoing electoral success will be seen as vindication of Martin McGuinness's decision to pull the shutters down on Stormont.
People in the heart of nationalist west Belfast yesterday appeared uncertain about the future after the DUP and Sinn Fein wiped out the centre ground.
Sinn Fein starts every Westminster election with one huge advantage over other parties.
In London, there is generally an ignorance of politics in Northern Ireland - even among politicians of many parties.
In the immediate aftermath of the election a pic was doing the rounds on social media with the caption to the effect that "this was unionism's 'crocodile' moment".
Five sitting Northern Ireland MPs lost their seats this week.
With the DUP now established as Westminster's kingmakers, political pundits and voters in Great Britain found themselves scrambling to learn more about Northern Ireland's biggest party.
Perhaps no one will much miss the voice of Irish nationalism in Westminster. Members of Parliament are reminded by the very fittings around them that they are part of an historic tradition, but many of them will have little sense of the Irish strand of that tradition.
Almost 20 years on from the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland looks nothing like what starry-eyed dreamers may have hoped for. The rich tapestry of political life is nowhere to be seen.
This was a strange election campaign in Northern Ireland. Perhaps it was weariness among politicians or they sensed a level of apathy among the electorate, but the election never really caught fire.
I have a confession to make. This week I broke the habit of a lifetime. I did not vote. Shucking off my civic responsibility wasn't a decision I took lightly. People fought and died for my right to participate in the electoral process. I brought up my children to be politically aware and to regard casting their votes as a democratic duty, a small but vital contribution to the future of society. You can't complain about the status quo, I told them, if you're not prepared to act to change it. Those words are ringing hollow in my own ears today.
It was a Westminster ballot, but the triumphant DUP and Sinn Fein have tightened their grip on Northern Ireland politics.
My first vote was cast on February 28, 1974 - and there could hardly have been a more exciting time to cast it. Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath had called a general election to determine the question: "Who governs Britain?" Not you was the answer he got.
Northern Ireland has three female political leaders — but it was a sorry show when only one of them turned up last night for the BBC’s election debate.
There is only one issue worth discussing in this election, yet it isn't getting much attention. What kind of border do we want London to negotiate in the Brexit talks, soft, hard or special? The unionists have already thrown in the towel, apparently accepting that since it was a British referendum, Northern Ireland's 56% Remain vote is trumped by the UK's 52% pro-Brexit.
All elections are important. In the face of real instability, budget pressures and economic turbulence, this election is critical. Your vote will decide who gives voice to your interests at one of the most testing times to face these islands.
Elections in Northern Ireland have often been held under the shadow of violence. This is the first time that one has been overshadowed by killings that have nothing to do with us.
It all began as a likely landslide victory for the Conservatives, but that expectation has gradually eroded as the campaign has progressed, until the result has become too close to call. How did this happen?
Just three months ago, the people of the north sent a powerful message to the DUP and the British Government. The Assembly election saw the biggest voter turnout since the Good Friday Agreement. Sinn Fein received our highest-ever vote - almost 225,000 votes.
In the alarming event that the general election produces a hung parliament, expect the republican movement’s inner circle to respond to its friend Jeremy Corbyn’s plea for help by having Gerry Adams (and appropriate sidekicks) fly to London for talks before calling an emergency party meeting to approve Sinn Fein taking its seats in Westminster.
Occasionally a crack will appear in the veneer of a public persona. On Thursday evening on the BBC's 'The View', just such an occurrence happened.
The Assembly election in March has served as a wake-up call for unionism. On that day Sinn Fein fell just 1,200 votes behind the DUP and unionism needlessly lost seats through a failure to act strategically and to transfer.
Remember David Trimble's controversial remark about republicans needing to be 'house-trained' before they could become true democrats? I was thinking about that phrase again this week after both the DUP's Jim Wells and Sinn Fein councillor Naomi Bailie made embarrassing messes on the floor. It all happened on social media, of course: the natural medium for verbal incontinence and unfortunate accidents.
The Manchester massacre has evoked embittered memories of the IRA’s bombing campaign on the British mainland. Comparisons are made between last week’s no-warning outrage and the IRA’s destruction of central Manchester in 1996 and the bombings in other English cities, such as Birmingham, Warrington and London between the 1970s and 1990s.
On the Nolan Show on May 29, 2017, Sinn Fein MLA John O'Dowd yet again made his party appear bullish, undemocratic and farcical in terms of reiterating the party stance of refusing to go into government with Arlene Foster as First Minister while the investigation into the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme is ongoing.
The key national issue in this election is Brexit. With TUV, you know where you stand on this important matter. We expect and demand that Northern Ireland's leaving of the EU must be as emphatic as that of any other part of the UK.
Until a few days ago the chances of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister were roughly equivalent to Sinn Fein councillor Naomi Bailie being asked to switch on the Christmas lights in Bangor this year after taking to Facebook to call the Co Down seaside town a "s***hole".
The ongoing argument about Jeremy Corbyn's consistent support for the "armed struggle" of the Provisional IRA is vacuous and circular. Very few people endorse every single action of any group they support, but Corbyn and his circle were always there to lend their support, particularly when the Provisionals were in difficulty.
Arlene Foster hailed Theresa May last week as "a solid and reliable unionist". If that's what she's counting on to secure the north within the Union, she may be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Last Monday's attack on the innocent people of Manchester demonstrated the cruelty of terrorism. It was a stark manifestation of the hatred our enemies have for our way of life and the free and democratic society which we hold dear.
Labour's narrowing of the gap in polls has caused some alarm at Tory HQ, but the events in Manchester mean terrorism and security may dominate the rest of the campaign to the virtual exclusion of all else
So what will happen at the most important election since the one, er, three months ago? - and does it matter? As election campaigning resumes after the utter horror of Manchester, can we merely expect yet more re-runs of the arguments which produced such a dramatic outcome in March?
What happened in Manchester last Monday was mass murder. It occurred at a time of apparently growing numbers of indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians across mainland Europe.
It is just over two weeks to the General Election on June 8, and we in deepest Strangford have not, as yet, seen or heard of an election candidate, canvasser, flyer or poster.
Labour Party in-fighting is likely to be a turn-off for voters - but there are some jangling nerves among the Tories too
Sinn Fein is entering this election in a far superior position to any other party - and that certainly came across at its manifesto launch yesterday. The candidates and their leadership were oozing confidence.
In any other place, the latest allegations surrounding the 'dark money' - which the DUP received to support the Brexit campaign - would have provoked a media frenzy.
Theresa May is playing it cool during this campaign, not daring to take any risks, believing this is the way to achieve a big majority on June 8.
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