11/01/2018 The View

No agreement on a Stormont deal,

nor on who should run

the place instead,

but a series of increasingly

toxic exchanges between

two political tribes.

So has all hope now gone

for the restoration of devolution?

Welcome to The View.

All last year hopes were being held

out for a deal to get Stormont

up and running again,

but barely two weeks into 2018

and it's emerged that one

of tonight's guests is looking

for other work because he doesn't

think Stormont is coming back.

The DUP's Edwin Poots says he'd

prefer to stay in politics

and a working Assembly than get

a new job, but we'll ask him

and Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd

about what appears to be a very slim

chance of their parties forming

an Executive together again.

All of that comes at the end

of a week where another

politician's tweet -

whether intended or unintended -

has raised suspicions

and lowered expectations.

That is why we have a political

process, because people believed

their game was up with outright

terrorism and violence. Had they had

a change within their mindset and

hearts, actually they have to do

business in a different way.

And no strangers to the airwaves,

but newbies in Commentators' Corner,

we welcome on board Allison Morris

from the Irish News

and the News Letter's Sam McBride.

Is it only in Northern Ireland that

an image of a man with a loaf

of bread on his head could lead

to a political crisis?

But that's what happened here this

week - and we're still calculating

the possible damage.

Sinn Fein called the actions

of Barry McElduff indefensible,

but the party's decision to suspend

the West Tyrone MP -

and not expel him - appears to have

compounded the situation.

In a moment we'll hear

from Sinn Fein and from the DUP,

which says republicans must stop

glorifying IRA terrorism.

But first Gareth Gordon assesses how

bad the fall-out from this

strangest of affairs might be.

This is the Sinn Fein side on the

third floor. That sat there is DUP

territory, but that is where I have

to go to get a Snickers.

This is

Barry McElduff doing what he does.

I

put a pound in the DUP vending

machine, and I got £1 60 back...

And

this is the moment the joke

backfired on Barry McElduff and his

party.

I am at a classic

devastation, and I wonder where they

keep the bread?

The MP with the

Kingsmill loaf on its head denied

knowing it was the anniversary of

the Kingsmills massacre.

I have no

doubt that hurt and pain has been

caused, but, you know, it was

genuinely unintended on my part.

That is not the way it has turned

out.

No matter how one examines it,

it was offensive. Coming from where

I come from, there is only a handful

of Protestant families in our

immediate area. I think there has

always been a great sense of

protection and protectiveness of

those Protestant families among the

Catholics and nationalists living in

that area. So, if you offend one of

those you will offend me.

The

journalist reflected the widespread

sense of outrage that went well

beyond the unionist community. In

the run-up to the first anniversary

of Martin McGuinness resignation as

First Minister, it puts Sinn Fein on

the back foot at the worst possible

time. After being summoned to the

leadership, Barry McElduff left

suspended the not expelled as many

thought he should have been. It is

hard to imagine relations between

DUP and Sinn Fein getting any worse.

But this episode may just have done

it. The DUP leader visited the

Kingsmills families, many said they

were shocked by the punishment.

I

think it is a pathetic response from

the Sinn Fein leadership. They

should really reflect on this

tonight.

It is a feeling shared by

this journalist who has written

widely on the plight of victims.

What if one of the DUP politicians

who thinks their hell areas, and

Iraq a few of those around as well,

what if he had gone around with a

pan on his head on the anniversary

of the book isn't massacre. -- and

there are a few of those. With the

DUP be happy if they got a slap on

the wrist and a three-month

suspension on full pay. That is the

way we need to think about this.

Sinn Fein has made very light of

this and they talked about it at

first as if he thought it was very

serious, but when it came to it, the

sanction was extremely light by any

standards.

So why did Sinn Fein take

the course they did?

Anyway short of

expelling Barry McElduff, I thought

they were never going to satisfy

their political opponents. Given

that, clearly the leadership of

champagne at this, believe Barry

McElduff account that this is an

awful coincidence. That action fame.

I never thought they would expel

them. Barry McElduff as an awful lot

of what to do to salvage that

reputation, that has to be ditching

this joking persona that landed him

in this bother. It is also about

repairing his relationship within

the party and the electorate and

also amongst Unionists.

Unionists

might be a step too far. This meant

is from Armagh where Kingsmills is

felt most deeply.

Barry McElduff was

reflecting a different view from

people in his political party? I

don't think so. I don't think there

has been a change of heart who were

participants in violence who

glorified that violence. That is why

we have a political process, because

people believed their game was up

with outright terrorism and

violence. Had they actually had a

change within their mindset and

hearts, that actually they have to

do business in a different way. That

is a question that I do think has

yet been over.

As they try once more

to revive devolution, the chances of

success are not great anyway. There

is little doubt that the way back to

Stormont is now even more difficult

to see.

We were in a position fairly

quickly to calculate the damaged by

Arlene Foster reference to

crocodiles, simply because we had to

election is coming very rapidly

after her remarks. Now, we don't

have an election in the offing now.

So, that damage, that potential

damage, is more difficult to

evaluate at this point in time. We

are in a fast potential here with a

new Secretary of State, the whole

Brexit row is endless. So, this may

not be as damaging as Eileen's

remarks, but it is going to be very

hard for people to forget. -- Arlene

Foster's remarks.

Gareth Gordon reporting.

So where does all of that

leave relations between

the two main parties -

and any prospect of

devolution talks resuming?

I'm joined by the DUP's Edwin Poots

and Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd.

Not a good week for Sinn Fein, I

think everybody agrees with that.

What you need to do to win back the

trust and respect of people who are

fed up to the back teeth of conduct

of local politicians and the failure

of local politics?

I think first and

foremost this has been an awful week

for the victims of Kingsmills. And

also for victims across our society.

I don't believe Barry's reactions

were setting out to cause hurt, but

he has caused hurt. We as a party

have to recognise that and Barry has

to recognise that. We still have our

political responsibilities and a

responsibility to deal with the

issues that have brought it to the

current political impasse. They have

not gone away. We sent me an don't

need to add to our problems, we have

not problems to deal with without

anyone or any section of our society

adding more problems. But, we have

to solve the political problems we

have, and I think that is the best

testament we can make to all of

those people out there who have

suffered because of... That we never

make the same mistakes we have done

in the past.

We will talk about

Barry McElduff's video in a moment

of truth. What USA is that to

recover from a difficult week we

need to make politics work. What you

are saying... But this is making

things more difficult, that is the

conundrum.

I think this has been

exacerbated because we were in a

difficult political situation in the

first place. I read Ian Paisley

Junior peace in the newspaper on

Saturday morning before this

incident had fully developed. He was

setting up a bleak view on Saturday.

There have been comments around that

they did not support the agreement

in the past and will not supported

in the future. The basis on which we

have political agreement has been

undermined and chipped away at

constantly. We have to resolve it,

we have together ourselves together

and move on to make the political

solutions that we know we can get

to, we have to make them work.

Edwin

Poots, Sinn Fein has not had a

monopoly on attracting criticism

this week, what can the DUP do to

win back people's trust?

I think

there is an important thing to do

that both parties and that is

engaging to people from other

communities and have people feel

comfortable, wherever they happen to

be from. I recognise that from our

part. We need to be reaching out and

we have been working on that. I

think that Fein is certainly need

Sinn to do that, as well. It was

hugely unfortunate what Barry

McElduff done, we have a

circumstance where 12 men were on a

bus, one man was asked to walk away

because he was Roman Catholic and

the other 11 were pumped full of

bullets, ten died. The IRA had a

sectarian campaign as did others,

that this was manifested so clearly

in this incident when the one Roman

Catholic was asked to leave the bus

and mass murder happened. To mock

that is something that has caused

huge hurt and devastation,

particularly in south Armagh.

A lot

of people were offended by your

colleague, Christopher Stalford's

actions last night. He would be

treated the offensive cartoon, and

his critics said he attempted to

score political points in this.

There is no high ground.

Brian

Spencer's cutting was probably one

of the most hard-hitting cuttings of

the troubles. It did spell out very

clearly what Sinn Fein was about.

Christopher was very quick to

respond whenever someone asked in to

respond. And he immediately removed

it.

But his accompanying message is

what caused a lot of offence and

what led to people saying that

Christopher Stalford was trying to

make political capital out of it.

Sinn Fein, offended by everything

and ashamed by nothing. Retweeting

the cutting was not the problem,

putting that message alongside it

was what annoyed so many people.

I'm

not sure who that actual message

annoyed. I think some of the victims

were annoyed by just how powerful

the cartoon was and I can understand

anybody who lost a loved one could

feel that it was going to far. That

is who Christopher was responding

to. He was not responding to the

Naomi Long's of the world.

She asked

to take you down and said it was

appropriate. John O'Dowd, what did

you make of the Brian Spencer

cartoon and the row that erupted

over the message that was posted

with by Christopher Stalford and

also Doug Beattie got into hot water

on social media last night because

of his engagement in that debate.

Political art is not... I have no

difficulty with the journalist or

the artist producing this piece of

work. The hypocrisy of some within

Unionism, I have to say I have a

difficult with. It may cause offence

but they refuse to take it down, and

when it was taken down down they

accuse others of having a problem

with that. I think there is a lot to

be learnt from this week. It has not

been a good week for politics. As I

said at the start of the programme,

it's me has not been a good week for

the victims of the conflict. I think

we all need to take a step back,

ensure whatever we say and do is

measured. And that we learn from the

lessons of this week and that we

endeavour to develop to repeat, it

is our only solution to the

problems. We have to make politics

work and ensure the agreements that

we have signed up to and what we

have difficult fee with, or the

agreements were a compromise either

by Unionism or Republicanism. There

is an uncanny are uncomfortable

nature with all the agreements. It

is the best we have and get and we

have to move on.

Can I say there is

a

markedly different tone from the

airwaves on Monday, Edwin Poots, you

were and I were involved in a

conversation on the radio and you

were knocking lumps out of each

other at that stage. It is a

different situation that I find

myself into night. Have you both

learned lessons over the past few

days?

We have plenty of time to kick lumps

out of each other before the

programme finishes. Then all of

these things, we need to move on.

Politics in Northern Ireland needs

to move on. It is not good for the

Trinity, it has not been good in the

health service as we have noticed. I

waiting times that were too long are

no longer. We have not seen the

reform and education that we need,

and we have not witnessed the

housing programme being developed

that should have been happening.

There are lots of things that should

be happening right now with the

Government, with the ministers in

place, and that can't

Government, with the ministers in

place, and that can't go on. We need

to have Government, and that is our

prevalence all day long. We need to

happiness is included.

Hadi respond

to that? There is nothing

particularly new in what Edwin Poots

it saying, but using it in a

slightly different way to which it

has been said on a number of

occasions over the past 12 months.

Up against that, you are going to

tell me that Sinn Fein's equality

and respect agenda remains

unchanged. Does it? Because that

doesn't cut any ice with Unionists

after the Barry McElduff affair?

I

think the events of last week make

the equality and respect agenda of

the more important. Because Barry

McElduff shot Sinn Fein in the fit?

Sinn Fein are dead hand, I have no

hard that the less people watching

this programme tonight to our very

angry, and that includes Sinn Fein

supporters.

As a justifiable?

Yes, I

think it is. I think we have a right

to be angry. I'm convinced, because

I know the character of the man,

that Barry did not set out to cause

heart pain, but the fact of the

matter is that he did, and we have

to deal with that.

The issue is

whether he meant to do but he did

and he meant to cause offence, and

you are not good to agree on that.

There is also the additional issue

of how CVC Sinn Fein to get when it

came down to the final analysis, and

you're actually putting and post

something of action against him,

something the punishment, and you

had one of our contributors saying

that the argument is it was not

enough, it was an extremely led a

tangent, that is how she put it, for

something that was described as very

crass, stupid, hopeful and

unforgivable. Three-month suspension

on full pay.

Work on a punishment is

that? We do not believe that he set

out to cause heart and unforgivable.

Three-month suspension on full pay.

Work on a punishment is that? We do

not believe that he set out to cause

our campaign, so we will not satisfy

those people, and when it comes to

the Kingsmills families, I can

understand why they are angry and

annoyed, and I also understand why

they do not trust watching anything,

because why would they? They had

been deeply hard by the Barbican is,

so why would the trust us? We have

to look at what is being presented

to us. I believe he did not set out

to cause harm, but he did, and I

also read that sanctions were

required against him.

He has now

been suspended for three months. His

constituency office today say he is

on full pay.

He is representing his

constituents. He is no longer

involved in any Sinn Fein work.

While he be involved in electing

Gerry Adams's successor he is

suspended.

He will have no vote at

local level, national level or any

other level. He will have no say in

terms of internal discussions I've

owned...

Can I be absolutely clear,

what is your message to Barry

McElduff if he is watching this

programme tonight? It is actions any

schism and indefensible. We shall I

know says ill judged, indefensible,

an error of judgment which cause

heart on paint and something that

fell short of the standard expected

of Sinn Fein.

What is your message?

I endorse those messages, and

speaking to other party colleagues,

we endorse those messages, and we

believe that Barry has listened to

this message and realise... Has a

lead you down? I am not concerned

about me. Had he let Sinn Fein down?

The most important people he has let

down if the families of the

Kingsmills attack. He has let down

other victims across satiety, and he

has let itself down. That is where

the heart has been caused. Should he

stop clowning around, Ron? It would

not be my still, I have to say, and

social media. I think politicians

have a responsibility, and I think

it is best to leave the comedy to

the comedians at times, and allow

the representatives to get on with

it.

Sinn Fein suspended another

politician first six months because

he had his an abortion may disagree

with. It seems a somewhat different

attitude.

Sinn Fein's political

opponents were never going to be

satisfied...

LED never a Sinn Fein

has been punished before, and that

was his punishment.

But you can

tell, catchy, sitting here tonight,

that a John O'Dowd is annoyed by

what Barry McElduff did. You can

tell he is disappointed and

annotated by what Mr McElduff dead.

You can see that, can't you?

I can

see that, but we need to dig a

little further. First of all, Sinn

Fein have never condemned the

Kingsmill massacre.

We have. I will

put it on the record here tonight. I

remember Kingsmills very well. I had

to my cousins shot dead the night

before, and I had another uncle left

for dead. What happened at

Kingsmills was wrong, it was

sectarian, and regardless of who

carried it out, whether it was the

IRA are others are people acting

from the IRA, it was long and have

condemned it in the past, and I had

my condemnation to a tonight. It is

wrong when it happened, it is long

today.

Do you accept that it was a

purely sectarian murder, about ten

men were killed because they were

Protestant?

Yes. It is shameful what

happened on the roadside insert a

mat that day. Absolutely shameful.

As a Republican, I am ashamed at

that. Those who carried it out

should be ashamed. I am one of many

now Republican leaders who has said

what happened at Kingsmills was

wrong. Those who carried it out does

not in anyway advance the cause of

Irish unity, and we have caused...

That is why I say I am not surprised

by the Kingsmills families are so

annoyed, and will not believe what

Sinn Fein has said, because

Republicans have harmed them. But

there is a responsibility for

Unionist politicians and the public

and politicians to move the society

forward.

That is our responsibility.

Can I take that one step forward

question what you have said in clear

terms that you are ashamed of what

happens, then it was completely

wrong and unforgivable and any

schism. We do lead to see the people

responsible for that brought to

justice?

If the families of

Kingsmill have a right to access

justice. Just as every other

families who have lost loved ones.

There are many, many families out

there who has not seen the

perpetrators who have killed their

loved ones before the courts. All

those families deserve access to

justice, and the Kingsmill families

deserve access to justice.

Women

recruits had the murder weapon. Sinn

Fein think he is a fitting person to

name a playpark after that children

play in. They say this is a man of

honour, this is and we should

respect, but he had the weapon that

was involved at the Kingsmill

massacre.

That does not mean he was

involved.

I don't want to rehash

that argument, we have added many

tens on the airwaves about the

rights and wrongs of it naming a

pack after the likes of this man. I

understand...

It is wrong.

I do want

you to adjust Pacific or the

comments which are, to be like of

which I have never had before

certainly from a Sinn Fein

representative about Kingsmills. How

do you respond to what strikes me as

a very personal reaction to

Kingsmills after 42 years from John

O'Dowd?

I work on what he said. -- I

welcome what he said, and I would

say what having to has happened to

has family was wrong as well, that

should never have happened. We have

a history of the baby killed on both

sides. It has not achieved anything

after all these years. As living a

political vacuum is something others

will look to fill, and it gives is

all the more impetus to pitch every

move things forward, and there are

things we do not like about the DUP,

about Sinn Fein, but we have what

with them for ten years. This last

year has been unproductive and

unfulfilling as a politician,

because things are not happening and

you're not getting things done the

way you should. I really want to see

us moving forward and to an

assembly, and to an executive, and

we need to cut the red lines and get

down to business.

So disenchanted

argue with the political situation

that you told my colleague yesterday

that you are looking for another

job.

I have considered what my

options are outside of politics.

You

have said you are actively pursuing

other work.

I am looking at what the

future might hold should be be

unsuccessful in an outcome.

Which

way do you play that? Are you on the

verge of throwing the towel in and

walking away, Paula Bradley good to

be W to get storm at up and running

again? And that might involve some

degree of compromise on your part.

Are you prepared to do that? I think

if you are looking at a precipice,

you should avoid it, and it is a

precipice. There are two ways of me

personally avoiding it, and one way

as we find a solution and I continue

in politics, or if we do not find

the solution, I quickly find

something else to do and move on in

life, and I want to ensure that I

have both options fulfilled. But

believe me, we are going to do our

best to ensure that we can move

Northern Ireland forward, and that

involves, whether I like it or not,

bother a lot of our supporters liked

it or not, doing some sort of

business with Sinn Fein, and whether

Sinn Fein supporters like it or not,

and will involve doing some sort of

business with the DUP, because we

are too large to be ignored in this.

It seems to me there is a different

mood in this conversation tonight.

It is obvious from talking to the

two of you before the programme and

during, that you get on, and that

effort was up to the two of you

would like to see things sorted out

in a positive way. The question is,

what about the red lines that Fein

has? You'd thought all be sitting in

that seat in November on this

programme that you cannot compromise

on a compromise. Positions on

equality and respect, and we will

not be shifting. Things like Bill of

Rights, same-sex marriage, an Irish

language act. You prepared to

discuss some kind of bigger room

that allows you to get back into the

executive with Edwin Poots and

actually move forward and some of

the issues that are not being sorted

out at the moment?

I do listen to

develop common, things are difficult

between the DUP and Sinn Fein. It is

appropriate to be civil to each

other in any setting, and we want to

set an example for society and vice

versa. But the reality as it has

been constant that through this

interview and other interviews, we

have the politics of forward based

on agreement, and those agreements

have to be permitted. Those

compromises which are public and

spade and Unionist have made which

are but us to this point have to be

built upon. Let's implement...

Equality and respect and integrity

applies as much to us as it does to

unionism, so we need to implement

it.

Any word, argue confident a deal

can be done to restore devolution?

I

am realistic about the future. I

think we have huge problems, but I

think they can be overcome.

I

believe a deal could have been done

last year, that the distance was not

that far at some point. And if that

is a mind to do it, a deal can be

done this year. It's good to be very

hard to sell given the events of the

last year for both sides. Speaking

for Mike community, and the

committee I represent, I feel very

much.

Thank you, both.

Now as we mentioned,

we've a new Secretary of State

in residence at Hillsborough Castle.

Karen Bradley has taken over

from James Brokenshire

who resigned suddenly on health

grounds on Monday.

She's an accountant by profession

and a former Culture Secretary,

but whether or not she'll figure out

how to restore devolution

is another matter.

And as she immerses herself

in all things Northern Ireland,

how long will it take for her to get

a clear vision of politics here?

Hello, hello. Welcome. Tell me what

you are doing?

I am studying. I have

a presentation in about ten minutes.

Are we getting in the way!? I always

thinks politics is life, everything

you do in life, politics comes into

it somewhere. Goodness me, I can

change the law! That was a

monumental thing in my life and the

moment I thought I like this. I

decided I was going to do this silly

game of politics and here I am now.

I know there are challenges, but I

am determined that we will find a

way through those challenges. We

need to did deliver devolved

Government to Northern Ireland as

soon as possible and that is what I

am determined to do.

Someone who knows Karen Bradley

is the journalist and broadcaster

Anne McElvoy, who joins me

now from London.

Anne McElvoy, thank you.

Do you think Theresa May made a good

choice?

I think she made the choice

intended to make, that Karen Bradley

is the minister closest to Theresa

May personally. I think this is a

sign that the Prime Minister is very

serious about the situation, and

particularly wanted to have someone

on the ground who she can have

constant communication with. The two

women who I think are in touch, not

that they sit there and pour out

their hearts to each other, but

there relationship has been a good

and solid won over many years. She

has someone in Karen Bradley summer

she trusts to deliver.

They are

still quite close?

Very close. To

the extent that Karen Bradley has

found it difficult in London to have

a profile of her own. She has, going

back to the David Cameron

Government, on Theresa May's side.

She signalled very early that she

would support her to the leadership.

She does not forget that after the

torrid time she's been through,

including Brexit, and the sense that

perhaps not everyone in her Cabinet

is her biggest fan. She is a

different, and I'm sure this is felt

on the ground in Northern Ireland, a

different character to James

Brokenshire. She is a different

kettle of fish as a politician.

People have noticed that she has a

different approach to James

Brokenshire, and he has been

criticised by many people from maybe

being a little bit hands off,

quieter than perhaps some people

would have liked, will she be

different?

I think she has a

different personality. She's not

particular the flashy, but she is

particularly warm. I think she does

well when she is out and about

talking to people in communities. I

think she is hidden away, culture,

media and sport, other than an epic

year is not the place you go to

quite public or share woes and

worries. I think she will prove a

good listener. What we need to know

is if she can step out of that

technocratic role that she has had

all of her career, junior minister

at the Home Office, accountant

before that. Then

Department-of-Culture-mac. Often

grinding through bits of media

legislation very different to come

into the situation that you are

talking about tonight, how reactive

and difficult that is and how far

away it seems to be able to restore

the best of that Good Friday

Agreement. Get the executive working

again on the grounds. She will not

come into thinking she can wave a

magic wand, but I have no doubt that

she has been putting together more

of a push once it was clear that

James Brokenshire would be going for

health reasons, it must be said. But

either way, I think likely at some

point there would be change.

Finally

and briefly, it is a confiscated

political landscape, you have

considered that yourself. I think

the previous interviewee

demonstrated that for anybody who

did not realise it already. She has

to to get to grips to that, maintain

a relationship of Dublin, leading to

the specifics of a complex Brexit,

does she have the skill to do all of

that and be the ringmaster that is

needed at the moment?

I will be

surprised that in three months' time

people say she has a golden touch

and every thing is back to the place

it should be. But what she does have

is that close reading skills, she is

not just any old accountant, she was

a very senior tax adviser at a big

accountancy company. She went from a

pretty ordinary background to

Imperial College. She is a very good

mathematician, or the problem on the

ground is political arithmetic

rather than figures on a page. But I

don't think she's scared of the

detail that some people might find

forbidding. Will she find the

personality to go along with this

difficult situation and make the

best of it?

We will find out in due

course. Thank you for joining us.

Now, new year and a new pairing

in Commentators' Corner -

though it's by no means their first

appearance on the programme.

Welcome to Allison Morris

and Sam McBride.

Thank you for joining us. We had an

interesting conversation at the top

of the programme, preventing anybody

expected it to go quite the way it

went. Where did you make of what was

said and the body language between

the representatives of Sinn Fein and

DUP tonight? Tour was startling and

unexpected. I hope it is healing.

I

cannot remember feeling as depressed

and disheartened as I had in this

last week. The events this last week

have been so damaging to the victims

the troubles, that just those from

Kingsmills, but also as John O'Dowd

pointed out it is another

anniversary. These people have been

kicked around like a political

football. The politicians would be

better helping them with their

inquest and fight to justice rather

than they would be to put each

other's eyes out, it was said. What

you saw from John O'Dowd

specifically was that I think Sinn

Fein have been really damaged and

hurt by what has happened. Not

because there wasn't Unionist

outrage at Barry McElduff comments,

that outrage from Republicans and

nationalists as well. He could see

that reflected in him it was a very

sombre interview and I heard those

words will go some way to healing

the damage of the last week?

It was

unexpectedly sober. I think we all

expected to see these two people

locking horns tonight and escalating

what has been a growing sense of

people heading to the changes over

the last year and the last week in

particular. I think that was a

deliberate starts tonight on both

the DUP and Sinn Fein to try and

de-escalated this. I think that does

not in any way mean they are moving

towards a deal, I think that is so

far off that it is much more

serious. It is about trying to get

this to a stage where it is beyond

politics and out in the community,

people really this really angry at

each other. I think there was a

sense tonight of a responsibility

from politicians, but this didn't

start with politicians larking

around. I think every body has a

sense that that got out of hand at

the very least.

It doesn't

necessarily mean we're inching to

the restoration of devolution, it is

not necessarily good news for Karen

Bradley who comes into a new role at

a very difficult time.

An extremely

difficult time. I think that telling

comment was from Edwin Poots at the

very end when he said, no matter

what happens from now this will be a

very difficult sale in my community.

I don't think unionists are doing a

deal at this time. We have had

polarising elections. These events

have shown just how far, and there

was a very real danger of that

spilling out and becoming nasty on

the streets. I think it was good

that both politicians took time to

try and diffuser. Karen Bradley, I

am sure she arrived on a very nasty

and foggy day, and that probably set

the mood for the rest of their

tenure, I would imagine.

If we do

not adapt to devolution in the

short-term, who knows what happens

in the long term. What does happen

in the short-term, direct rule

sooner rather than later?

Depends

who you speak to. It is clear that

that is what the DUP are itching for

at point. I understand why the

Republicans think they are not

serious, but the DUP at serious at

struggling to sell it to their

supporters.

Interesting stuff, thank

you. Welcome to the team.

That's it from The View

for this week.

Join me for Sunday Politics

at 11.35am here on BBC One.

Meantime, we all know that politics

can be a tough business.

But the Prime Minister of Thailand

came up with a novel way of dealing

with media enquiries this week.

Maybe it'll catch on here, too?!

Thoughts welcome,

as ever, @bbctheview.

Good night.

MUSIC PLAYS