Newton Emerson

Sinn Féin is struggling to fit current events into the Irish republican world view, where unionists might be bad but Britain is always worse, and a British Tory government is worst of all

A Sinn Féin government in Dublin might settle for an enhanced consultative role while cranking up the optics

A brief pause on border poll demands is a deliberate and intelligent strategy

Some opinion polls put the DUP and Sinn Féin tantalisingly close in Northern Ireland local elections

Northern unionists pay more attention to the Republic than people in the rest of the UK. They tend to be sensitive to signs of anti-British feeling, and doubly offended if assured such feelings do not apply to them

Somehow the UUP can’t seem to capitalise on the DUP’s multi-year Brexit fiasco and epic leadership contest meltdown

What could Mary Lou McDonald reply if Britain was to say ‘take out your cheque book, you can afford it?’

Where would the workforce come from? Unemployment in Northern Ireland is 2.4 per cent, matching the record low set just before the pandemic

How plausible is it that Chris Heaton-Harris will risk financial meltdown to force the DUP back to work?

UK rate will will jump from 19% to 25% next week, its highest since 2011

Newton Emerson: Where all the exceptions and flexibilities needed to make plan work will ultimately lead is an open question

The party has its sights on the Department for the Economy, a DUP fiefdom. The potential is big, as are the pitfalls

Introduction of a Stormont Brake opens a door to pursue wider reform of community designation

Separate guides to the new agreement on the Northern Ireland protocol published by the UK and the EU seem to agree on very little

The DUP needs breathing space - but its problem is that a parallel game is playing out in the Conservative Party