The Irish Government has a vital role in addressing Sinn Féin’s latest Stormont drama – a role it seems determined to mishandle or ignore.

Last week, Sinn Féin dropped heavy hints it might walk out of the Northern Executive due to alleged DUP obstruction.

This sudden switch from positivity to gloom made quite an impact, although not the one the party intended. Threatening a crisis amid the success of the fleadh jarred badly with the public mood.

It escaped nobody’s notice that the hints followed another poor opinion poll result for Sinn Féin, the latest in four years of steady decline. Trying to blame the DUP for its falling support was widely greeted with derision. Although the unionist party is actively blocking several key Sinn Féin policies, most clearly a Bill for workers’ rights, it has legitimate reasons for doing so and has offered a compromise deal. The downgrade of the Casement Park GAA stadium in Belfast has been pinned on a DUP sports minister, but anyone familiar with this story knows the truth is far more complicated.

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