I am forced to agree – this is the challenge for unionism as much as for nationalism – that the re-establishment of direct rule is not in the best interests of Northern Ireland. Such was the concern that direct rule was slipping away in the days leading up to the suspension, the mainstream Ulster Unionist Party, led by David Trimble, suggested that a Shadow Cabinet should be appointed the members of which could shadow the British Ministers. All of those – Ministers from the DUP, Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist Party – involved in the governing of Northern Ireland, did an excellent job and that makes it all the more regrettable that political pragmatism, if one is a Unionist, or the political reality, if one is a member of Sinn Féin, heralded the eventual suspension of the Executive.