Letter: The DUP are losing the moral high-ground by using the protocol as an excuse in delaying a return to power sharing

The Sinn Fein gains in the council elections is because of their progressive policies, their urgency in returning to Stormont (if only we could), and their strides made towards an all inclusive party. The DUP are losing the moral high-ground by using the protocol as an excuse in delaying a return to power sharing and their antiquated policies due to their supposed adherence to Biblical scripture (although once they condemn usury, in all its guises, then I'll believe their old fluff).

Unionists must decide whether to maintain their love affair with a Great Britain that wants out of the relationship (let's face it, they never took it seriously) or to accept a state encompassing the shores of Ireland, but one where the Irish language isn't imposed on us. The last time I was in Dublin everything was in English and everybody spoke English. We don't want the Irish tricolour flying from every public building and lamppost. But it isn't like that in the South. I've taken buses from Belfast to Killarney and back, and I didn't see one tricolour. We don't want a situation where "them'uns" from down South are "coming up and taking our jobs and houses". This is something they've had the right to do for decades and we can do the same down there. But I think most people prefer to be near family and friends and stay around what is familiar to them. Lastly, we could have a cultural space where the Orange Order can still parade, as they do in Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal.

Louis Shawcross, Hillsborough