Subdued reaction from unionists is a positive sign

IN all of the reporting, commentary and analysis I’ve encountered so far on the recent IRA announcement, a lot of the focus has been on the (apparently) lukewarm response from unionist politicians, and the DUP in particular.

It is surprising that, as yet, no one seems to have drawn the obvious conclusion. Could this be deliberate?

What has been remarkable about the reaction of unionism and the DUP is not their lack of embrace for the IRA’s historic initiative. Rather, it is that they did not respond to it in some kind of triumphalist fashion, which obviously would have been disastrous.