THANKFULLY referenda are not frequent occurrences in UK politics.
Thankfully, that is, for politicians and large sections of the media. Voters, it seems, take it all in their stride.
The most recent referendum on EU membership was a debacle. Leave campaigners, most notably that chief architect of discord Nigel Farage, said before the polls opened that any narrow defeat for the Leave side would not be the end of the matter.
He and others hardly got a decisive win but a win it was. The DUP's new found fondness for this recent referendum result is in stark contrast to their response to the Good Friday Agreement which was overwhelmingly endorsed by a whopping 71 per cent of the electorate in Northern Ireland and enacted through the sovereignty of the UK parliament.
Neither Arlene Foster nor Theresa May have shown any savvy in respecting nearly half the population who voted to remain in the EU.
Mrs Foster mocked the majority of voters in Northern Ireland by calling them Remoaners.
It's hugely disappointing on a number of levels not least from those of us who expected something a little different than the usual machismo we have come to expect from the alpha male approach to politics.
One would have thought that both women would have quickly recognised that their primary function was to heal the divisions post the referendum.
What we got was completely the opposite with May acting as if the UK voted by a landslide to leave and Foster completely ignoring the comprehensive Remain vote by her own constituents in Northern Ireland.
The leadership of Sinn Féin seem at sea post Brexit. A border poll is about as likely as the Pope saying Mass at Windsor Park.
They are passing the buck on a post-Brexit strategy to the Irish government because they are tied to Mrs Foster's apron strings in the executive and she, it seems, is determined to humiliate them with her hard Brexit comments.
It is a difficult position for Sinn Féin but refusing to follow the tradition of Grattan, O'Connell, Parnell and Hume by using their Westminster mandate to further Irish interests at this critical time is a political cop out.
That said the SDLP's absolutist position on EU membership isn't helpful either. Like Sinn Féin on abstention it’s probably a sincere viewpoint but it won't wash. Few English MPs will go against the result of the referendum.
The Ulster Unionist position is even less thought out. This line about respecting the referendum result is a smokescreen.
No one knows exactly what the people have said because the prospectus on which the Leave campaign relied so heavily was conveniently shelved within days of the referendum result.
So we now need to see some detail. What are the terms of this exit? Are they the nirvana promised or do they come with a hefty price tag? The fact is we don't know because the prime minister is acting with all the transparency of Harry Houdini.
The notion that the government could by an archaic privilege called the Royal Prerogative pull the nearly irrevocable trigger of Article 50 was always fanciful. There's nothing sinister about their motives in wanting to do this - the truth is much simpler.
Triggering Article 50 was the only certainty in this entire process that this government thought it had control of. Everything after that is about as certain as finding gold at the end of the rainbow or lasting love after throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain.
Don't be fooled by the over the top media commentary on either side. The High Court ruling on the sovereignty of parliament is just that.
It doesn't prevent the eventual triggering of Article 50 nor is it some liberal conspiracy. Judges are not known or appointed for their liberal views.
What the judges have said is that the executive, ie the government, cannot exercise this act without first seeking parliament’s approval.
Yes, in theory MPs could refuse to grant that approval but that won't happen. Therefore, there is no need for right wing hysteria or a chorus of hallelujahs by liberals.
The courts are an essential element of restraint and appeal within a democracy and those condemning these judges bring shame on themselves and display a startling but unsurprising level of ignorance.
By forcing the government to return to parliament MPs will get an opportunity to scrutinise government plans for exit.
Believe it or not that's their job - not getting your drain fixed - though they do that rather better.
