I AM as relieved as anyone that sense seems to be prevailing in Northern Ireland – in other words, the DUP realise they have run out of road and that causing more carnage will not be tolerated. Stormont may resume.

And at least this time the Brexit madness/fallout-related £3 billion sweetener is to try to cushion some of the horrible and unnecessary chaos and misery resulting from the DUP throwing their toys out of the pram over the mess created by the party they ally themselves with – the Conservatives.

READ MORE: Irish unity ‘within touching distance’ with Stormont return, Sinn Fein leader says

When Theresa May bunged the DUP £1bn it was simply to keep herself in power.

Among all the madness, it’s easy to forget the real irony, which is that Northern Ireland, like Scotland, voted strongly to remain in the EU.

As for the poison of Brexit itself, one cannot help thinking of a popular line from Dr Seuss’s The Cat In The Hat – “the mess is so big and so deep and so tall, we cannot clear it up, there is no way at all…”

Amanda Baker
Edinburgh