Andrew McQuillan

After three years, and one attempted deal abandoned at a minute to midnight, Northern Ireland now has a devolved government. 

The DUP's retreat at the general election should hasten the demise of party leader Arlene Foster, writes Andrew McQuillan.

More often than not, opportunism rather than well-thought strategy is what makes for political success.

Ruth Davidson's resignation as leader could be the moment when the Scottish Conservatives strike out on their own, argues Andrew McQuillan.

Moves to legalise same-sex marriage and abortion in Northern Ireland are welcome, but raise fresh questions about how the province is governed, argues Andrew McQuillan.

Doing the rounds on angry, Leave-supporting loyalist Twitter after the latest defeat of the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement was one of those songs clubs in east Belfast have reverberated to down the years; pub singer, dodgy backing accordion and mournful lyrics, that sort of thing.

As the DUP gathers for its annual conference in Belfast this weekend, Andrew McQuillan notes what a difference a year makes.

The DUP's backing for Brexit has seen them backed into a constitutional corner, says Andrew McQuillan.

For someone who once said she wasn’t into gesture politics, Arlene Foster has been busy in recent weeks. 

The biblical portents which greeted the Good Friday Agreement 20 years ago today – even in Northern Ireland snow in April is considered unusual – were an indication of its magnitude.

There are few universal truths accepted more unquestioningly, it would seem, by mainland commentators than Arlene Foster's purported political acumen.

It was fitting, in its painfully ironic way, that the "will they won't they" drama between the DUP and Sinn Fein collapsed on Valentines Day. 

 

The puffs of white smoke which emanated over Brussels and Arlene Foster’s Enniskillen home in the early hours of this morning seemed unlikely yesterday. 

Thirty-two years after Ian Paisley thundered “never, never, never” in response to the Anglo-Irish Agreement, another unionist leader once again said no, albeit in more moderate tones.

On the fringes, panellists were all very keen to emphasise the importance of skills, particularly within the context of the industrial strategy, says Dods political consultant Andrew McQuillan.

Westminster politicians belatedly turning their attention to Northern Ireland will soon realise how tricky the Brexit border issue will be, writes Dods Political Consultant Andrew McQuillan.

The shock snap election result that left Theresa May grappling with the DUP to prop up her Government opened up a major question: What will the Northern Irish unionists be demanding? DUP expert Andrew McQuillan explains the party's mindset, what it may be asking for, and how it risks overplaying its hand.