THE sight of the British proconsul going out to the gates of his vice-regal lodge at Hillsborough to greet the Sinn Féin delegation for talks on a Stormont budget last week wasn’t well received in unionist circles.

To cap it all, his warm embraces for Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill added insult to injury.

After all, O’Neill is the villain of the piece as far as unionism is concerned, yet there was Britain’s representative in this remnant of its first colony welcoming her literally with open arms.

He felt he needed to explain his actions by saying the Sinn Féin delegation was late and he went out to the gate to hurry them in to get the meeting started. Really?

Brian Feeney: Sinn Féin has ‘The Big Mo’ and unionists have nowhere to go

Alex Kane: Unionism has not been as divided since 1998

For unionists, Michelle O’Neill is at the heart of the crisis they’ve provoked by backing the Orange Order’s preposterous attempt to reopen the Garvaghy Road issue. Unionists demand something must be done about her, but what?

Unionism is deeply divided about the answer to that question. The DUP leader is caught on the horns of a dilemma of his own making. He said there would be “profound consequences” for O’Neill’s actions without thinking what they would or could be.

Time is now running out after dreadful opinion poll results........

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