A House divided

WHEN the Conservative Party got a deal with their Lib Dem partners sorted out, their Northern Ireland brethren (no not the Orange Order!) faded from memory as a failed attempt to grab a seat or two at Westminster.

But here the autopsy is well underway, with the Norn Iron Tories thinking deeply about the future direction of the party with the next set of elections less than a year away.

So far, the link with the Ulster Unionists hasn’t been declared dead, but it is in need of urgent resuscitation if it is to be revived. And, with no-one prepared to declare what lies in the future, ahead of Ulster Unionists leadership election, one can only presume that one lesson will be learned, less the link is to be issued with a death certificate: that is the lesson of taking a decision.

Whether the local Conservatives go forth alone, or enter another marriage (this time with pre-nuptial agreement) with the Ulster Unionists they show all the hallmarks of fitting perfectly into Northern Ireland politics...too much talk, too many leaks to the media and too little decision-making. At that rate of going they might end up being co-opted on to the Executive where decisions appear to have been declared forbidden.