Fatal mistake to leave the DUP in dark about Brexit deal

The Tories’ ham-fisted handling of a delicate situation and the Irish government’s questionable rhetoric on the North are creating another vortex of paranoia among unionists

Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster of the DUP address the media in Downing Street last week Getty

The barrage of criticism levelled at Dublin by senior DUP figures was striking but not new. Neither was it solely a result of the unionist kingmakers being bounced into a Brexit phase 1 deal they didn’t like. Dismissed by many as a narrow and cynical political ploy at an opportune moment to extract maximum attention, the DUP’s intervention has causes which go much deeper than that. And it had been coming for some ...