Donaldson becomes a fourth striker for the DUP, writes Gerry Moriarty
In the end the surprise would have been if Jeffrey Donaldson hadn't signed on for the DUP. Still, the image of former Ulster Unionists Mr Donaldson, Ms Arlene Foster and Ms Norah Beare yesterday trooping down the stairs of Parliament Buildings accompanied by Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson had a powerful impact.
Previously the three luminaries in the DUP were Mr Paisley, Mr Robinson and Mr Nigel Dodds, who was absent yesterday. But now they had a fourth striker on the team in the physically diminutive but politically weighty form of Mr Donaldson - the biggest vote-getter in the recent Assembly elections.
And Mr Donaldson was "proud" to be taken on by Dr Paisley. He fired one of probably many parting shots at his former leader, Mr David Trimble. In his view, he was joining a Premier League outfit from the Vauxhall Division.
"It is a team that I believe is capable of providing leadership to the unionist community. It will not be like the leadership of the party I have left, a leadership that had no bottom line, a leadership that did not know how to negotiate properly, a leadership that has failed the unionist community," he said.
Behind the media scrum a couple of Ulster Unionists looked on grimly, although presenting as brave a face as possible. "When a marriage is over you get a divorce and get on with your life," said one, happy to see the back of Jeffrey but upset that the DUP now had 33 Assembly seats while the UUP had only 24.
It's bleak too for the UUP in Westminster where the DUP now have six seats and the Ulster Unionists five. Two of these are held by the Rev Martin Smyth and Mr David Burnside who reject Mr Trimble's authority.
Come the European Parliament elections in June, the DUP may attempt to rub salt in Mr Trimble's wounds. It is now weighing up whether by having Mr Donaldson as a running mate for Dr Paisley the party could take two seats and oust sitting Ulster Unionist MEP Mr Jim Nicholson.
Some of the ground the UUP lost to Dr Paisley could be recovered if it is clear that the DUP for all its Assembly seats is incapable of striking a deal that restores devolution to Northern Ireland.
The first significant test of whether such agreement is possible comes later this month when the review of the Belfast Agreement formally begins.
If you judge Dr Paisley by his words, then agreement appears impossible. He was in typical not-an-inch form yesterday. "There is one major issue that we will not be renegotiating, that we will not be talking about, and that is the possibility of getting IRA/Sinn Féin back into the government of Northern Ireland. That is not for discussion."
Such comments tend to support the analysis that the DUP has no short-term intention of finding an accommodation with Sinn Féin.
Yet the continuing whispers from the DUP undergrowth is that notwithstanding Dr Paisley's negativity, the party genuinely wants to do business in the review. Mr Peter Robinson is not revealing his alternative to the Belfast Agreement. However, it appears to be an initial arrangement where a Stormont administration would be established that would fall short of a collectively run executive. Later then, if the IRA provided the acts of completion, a proper collective form of government could be set up.