Northern Ireland

Deirdre Heenan: The DUP must be wary of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

Any stalling by Jeffrey Donaldson on the Windsor framework will allow the naysayers to gain momentum, and a rejection of it by the DUP will lead to the North being viewed as ungovernable

Jeffrey Donaldson must prove that he is leading and not being led, that he is not motivated by self-interest. Picture: Getty

After a long and torturous Brexit journey, hopes are high that an end to the toxic wrangling over the Northern Ireland protocol may finally be in sight.

At a joint press conference last week, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, unveiled the Windsor Framework and hailed a “decisive breakthrough”, marking a turning point in relations between the two sides.

The mood between the leaders was joyous ...