With Northern Ireland once again in politcial crisis and continuing divisions within unionism, we need to consider carefully the consequences, both for the Union itself and for efforts to create a shared future here.
"This needs sorted and quickly. If we cannot reach agreement on welfare reform, then I fear for the consequences in Northern Ireland. It is all very well for Gerry Adams to say that he will collapse the Assembly and Executive before agreeing to welfare reform. However, such a collapse will create a political vacuum and usher in Direct Rule - a form of governance in which none of us will have a say in our future. Ironically a Direct Rule that will see an even more austere version of welfare reform imposed upon us. The men of violence will move quickly to fill the vacuum created by a failure of political leadership. Is that really what Sinn Fein want? These are critical days. Sinn Fein must chose between Louth and Belfast, between fiction and reality, between a shared future and a return to a violent past."