I'm sorry Jonty, but I think you are just wrong on this. For one thing, the grammar school boy behind Donaldson is Peter Robinson, but he's (or was) neither as rich nor as thick as those old Portora Royal hooligans Beckett was referring to.
For another, when SF are silent, they do it precisely so that people can read into it whatever it is they want. In this case, they know the DUP has wiped HMG's eye and slipped everything back to the backstop arrangements that TM tried to get through.
I'm sorry Jonty, but I think you are just wrong on this. For one thing, the grammar school boy behind Donaldson is Peter Robinson, but he's (or was) neither as rich nor as thick as those old Portora Royal hooligans Beckett was referring to.
For another, when SF are silent, they do it precisely so that people can read into it whatever it is they want. In this case, they know the DUP has wiped HMG's eye and slipped everything back to the backstop arrangements that TM tried to get through.
My mate Paddy Belton lays out my logic here and a few other things besides: https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/02/northern-ireland-to-get-a-government-as-eu-food-and-goods-rules-tip-balance/