Daniel McConnell: Protocol and border poll dominate elections for unionists

DUP, TUV, and UUP consider the prospect of Sinn Féin emerging as the North's largest party after Assembly elections

Former education minister and DUP MLA Peter Weir said Sinn Féin's had pretented that a border poll was not a priority until their manifesto was published. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA

Opposing a border poll and scrapping the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol are the two main issues of concern for unionist parties ahead of next week’s Assembly elections.

Faced with the prospect of Sinn Féin emerging as the largest party, meaning the right to hold the office of first minister, unionist agitation is further elevated by the sense of abandonment they feel since the signing of the protocol by Boris Johnson’s government.