First, the good news. The first homecoming parade in Northern Ireland took place in Ballymena yesterday evening. The Royal Irish Regiment has been granted the freedom of Larne today. And the Belfast parade will take place tomorrow, when of the 280 or so Armed Forces personnel parading, twenty-three per cent (approximately 65) will be from the Republic of Ireland. Jolly good. The more homecomings, the better. And the more ties between the Republic and the Commonwealth to which even Bertie Ahern (of Fianna Fáil, lest we forget) now says that it should accede, the better.
Meanwhile, however, Peter Robinson has reiterated to the DUP Conference his commitment to "power-sharing". Now, I am all in favour of a system whereby several parties representing a disparate electorate are guaranteed at least roughly equal numbers of seats in Parliament, in government, and in the Cabinet. But I have in mind half a dozen parties out of the dozen or so that would seriously contest any General Election. Whereas in Northern Ireland, the whole thing is specifically set up so that all the parties are in government all the time. And in that case, who is asking any questions?
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