Having the DUP in Killarney is an historic occasion in itself

The Duke in Dublin and the DUP in Killarney — in the same week! And they all got home safely.

The Duke, in this case, was not a reincarnated John Wayne, but Philip who’s related to the Windsors by marriage, and famous for making faux pas while abroad, and the odd one at home, as well.

Oddly enough, the visit by Queen Elizabeth’s husband, apart from the obvious speculation that she’ll show the same good taste and come pony trekking here soon, wasn’t quite as historic as that by the DUP.

For Philip, it was déjà vu. Eight years ago he made his first visit to the south to launch a cross-Border initiative, which brought together the president’s Gaisce awards and his Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme. On that occasion he also met President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, both of whom he met again this time.

It says much for his role as queen’s consort that it was considered safe for his wife to visit Ireland once he had become almost a regular visitor by royal standards.

The last time anybody as senior from his side — England, that is, not Greece — was in Ireland was when King George V and his missus Mary came calling in 1911.

When the present queen, Elizabeth, finally makes an appearance here, she’ll undoubtedly notice major changes from the last pictures in the family album.

That was 10 years before Ireland became independent, something which the DUP, no doubt, regrets, and probably ascribes most of its troubles to.

But there’s no point in the DUP harking back to what it undoubtedly regards as the good old days.

Port Stewart or the Giant’s Causeway might have been more attractive for a day out, but Killarney was where the party ended up this week.

The DUP’s trip there was more historic than Philip’s to Dublin, for more reasons than one.

It would have been more than historic had big Ian been there, but Killarney can only handle so many shocks. As it was, Peter Robinson and Nigel Dobbs, along with Jeffrey Donaldson and Iris Robinson, beat the drum for the cause, metaphorically, that is.

In fairness to the DUP, it was a first for them because it was the first time they had ever attended a British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body (BIIPB) — possibly because it was set up as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

And we all know how vehemently the DUP was, and possibly still is, against that particular concord.

Chaired by former Northern secretary Paul Murphy, the meeting went on for two days but the DUP presentation was scheduled to last for only one hour, so I reckon they are either having second thoughts about the whole political scenario in the North, or they needed the expenses.

Why else would they travel from one end of the country to the other for one hour? And I don’t think they needed the money.

I agree with the Taoiseach, who said earlier this week that the DUP involvement “should be seen as very significant”.

Also very significant was the report from the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) later on in the week, which stated very categorically that the IRA was “committed to following a political and peaceful path”.

While it also said that some members were still involved in crime, the independent body found that the loyalist Ulster Defence Association’s involvement in criminality remained “endemic”. In other words, the UDA was up to its ears in the mire.

In fact, the IMC has no doubt that UDA members were responsible for the killing of a man in Co Antrim two months ago.

Apart from murder, it also said that the UDA continued to act violently, undertaking both shootings and assaults.

“The UDA’s heavy involvement in crime, including drug dealing and blackmail, continues and in some parts of the organisation criminality can be described as endemic.”

Devastatingly, the IMC believes the organisation “aspires to arm up and equip” itself.

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) it found to be fractionally better, but it was still responsible for a range of criminal activities, including violence, and continued to display behaviour “indicating that it intends to remain in the paramilitary business”.

The IMC is under no illusion that the UVF undertook “both shootings and assaults over the recent period”.

Tellingly, weapons, explosives and other paramilitary equipment that was seized in Belfast in February belonged to the UVF.

The IMC is an independent body — it doesn’t have an axe to grind with any organisation.

Now, if the DUP were realistic and conveyed that impression to the rest of the world, then it would have to lay off insisting it would have nothing to say to Sinn Féin until the membership of the IRA were certifiable altar boys. Neither Sinn Féin, nor the IRA, can be responsible for the actions of every single member, no more than the DUP can be blamed for those members of the UDA, the UVF or any other criminally-inclined loyalist out there.

It cannot guarantee the same status for loyalist groups as it insists on for the IRA, so it is being nothing short of hypocritical when it demands it of others.

Nigel Dobbs said at the meeting in Kerry that he would not shy away from taking the DUP’s message to Dublin, to America or to Killarney.

Well, it’s taken them 16 years to get to Killarney — but, for them, 16 years is nothing.