THERE'S an old saying, wrongly ascribed to native American folklore, that before you judge a man, you should walk a mile in his moccasins. It's actually from an 1895 poem by Mary T. Lathrap, but it's lasted the test of time.
In that spirit, I've tried to put myself in the shoes of Northern Ireland unionists.
How does it feel to consider yourself fundamentally British, to revere the institutions of the United Kingdom, the monarchy, the national anthem, the last night of the Proms and Union Flags fluttering in the breeze over the mother of parliaments?
I could understand the respect for the late Queen Elizabeth, although I'm agin monarchs of all stripes, and you have to hand it to the British for their mastery of pageantry as shown in the step-perfect royal funeral. You can also admire the resilience of the nation that stood up to Hitler, even if they've a tendency to think they won that war on their own.
There's also the admirable sense of fair play that led to the formation of the welfare state and a national health service under a Labour government, led by the unshowy Clement Attlee.
I've met unionist politicians who've made it away from these shores to a comfortable existence in the House of Lords. They've never looked happier.
But don't they ever fear they never quite fit? Do those ERG types, who were cosying up when they needed DUP votes, really consider them as part of their club or just irksome paddies to them?
Try as I might, I find it hard to walk in Dupper shoes. Why did they back Brexit? Was it hankering after a nostalgic Britain of yesteryear, when Johnny Foreigner knew his place and the EU was echoed in the old newspaper headline, 'Fog in the Channel, Continent cut off'?
Was it really to put a harder border between us up here and themmuns down south, even though 30 years of the Troubles proved you couldn't police that border, even with a visiting army?
How much do they really share British values that have accommodated, not resisted, social change?
The NI Protocol was obviously a blow to their sense of being 'as British as Finchley'. But that's because they've always ignored the reality of physical geography which makes this place 'other'.
A very informative recent Twitter thread by Peter Leary revealed that customs checks on goods from Britain to Northern Ireland were a fact of life from the creation of the state – even including that totem of Britishness, HP Sauce.
In 1927, the makers of the brown stuff were worried that the requirement to declare what percentage of its product was potentially subject to duty "might entail giving part of our recipe".
But Westminster insisted sending brown sauce to NI was never the same as sending produce into Wales or Scotland. And as Leary notes, "the creation of a sea border with checks on goods moving between Britain and the north accompanied the creation of NI itself" yet no-one seemed to consider it a matter of high principle or constitutional integrity then.
Now it's different. Unionists feel they're being treated differently because of that damned Irish Sea between them and the motherland. Could they not embrace it, iron out the obvious problems that exist for some through proper negotiations and appreciate the opportunities that plenty of other businesses report in being able to trade with both Britain and Europe?
Could they not see that making NI a prosperous entity, where Irish culture is respected, would make it a happier place that people of all backgrounds could enjoy. Maybe it would even lessen the urgency for Irish unity?
Time to try on the other side's moccasins, lads.
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THERE'S another saying: "When you're in a hole, stop digging."
Someone should tell DUP press officer, John Robinson. He has committed the worst crime for someone in that role - becoming the centre of a story. He barred freelance journalist Amanda Ferguson from the party's conference last weekend.
Apparently her appearance, chairing a debate at the Ireland's Future conference - and her pro-choice views - made her persona non grata.
Wiser counsel prevailed and she was admitted, but a statement from the press office dug a deeper hole, on the one hand declaring the DUP always upheld the freedom of the press, while also commenting: "It says a lot about some NUJ members that there is confusion over whether they are campaigners or journalists."
A word in your ear, John boy, it's possible to be both.
