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Tim Cairns: The divide in unionism runs right through the DUP

10 0
yesterday

RECENT polling has brought into sharp focus a fault line which has been running through unionism for many years.

The problem is that the divide does not run between parties. It runs straight through the middle of the DUP.

Unionism is represented by three parties polling similar numbers. But while there are three parties, there are, broadly speaking, only two opinions, and for the first time in 20 years, the DUP is not the main advocate for unionist thought.

The emergence of Jon Burrows is a headache Gavin Robinson didn’t need.

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Tim Cairns: The divide in unionism runs right through the DUP

For the first time since the days of David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist Party has a message that resonates with a significant number of unionists.

His argument is simple: Stormont has to work, because a Northern Ireland that works is unionism’s best chance of strengthening the United Kingdom.

Make devolution deliver, persuade the persuadable, and the union is secured by competence rather than confrontation.

The alternative has been articulated for years by Jim Allister and, more latterly, by Carla Lockhart.

Their argument is equally clear: Stormont does not work and never will. Propping up a Sinn Féin First Minister is not a........

© The Irish News