Ben Lowry: So much for Boris Johnson helping unionists out of a sense of guilt for his betrayal of them

Others have wondered if the reverse will happen — revenge against unionists, due to a possible perception among the Tory establishment that they were hostage to the DUP after 2017.

Or will unionism get neither favourable treatment nor punishment — just a return to the pre 2016 Westminster indifference to one community that lives in a small corner of the UK?

We don’t yet know. But this week suggested that the prime minister is not making any effort to do unionists favours.

In fact, less than 24 hours before Boris Johnson’s major internal UK frontier was endorsed by MPs, Julian Smith did the very opposite.

The secretary of state, in joint stewardship of the Stormont talks with Simon Coveney (ie the NIO as ever making clear that Dublin is as much in control of the return of devolution as is the sovereign government), singled out one party for criticism in the talks: the DUP.

The Irish deputy prime minister, Mr Coveney, did so too, although more obliquely. “If we get a change in approach from one party in particular later on this evening, well then we can still go for it before Christmas if that is what they want to do,” Mr Coveney said.

Never before has a party been singled out in this way.

Yet this failure to treat all parties equally passed almost without comment outside of the News Letter.

At no point since a Conservative and Unionist government came to power in 2010 has one of its ministers singled out Sinn Fein for criticism.

Republicans have kept Stormont down for three years but UK ministers do not dare even hint at disapproval of such tactics.

In fact, when I asked Theresa May in February 2018 about the concern of unionists that Sinn Fein had been allowed to bring local politics to a halt for (then) 13 months, her response was astonishing.

She said: “I think both sides, both the DUP and Sinn Fein, have been working hard over the last 13 months, I think we have seen them coming together, recognising we all want to see the executive reformed here in Northern Ireland ...”

Not only no criticism, but praise (see link below).

No matter what republicans do, there is not going to be any UK criticism, ever. Or maybe there will be if a Labour secretary of state such as Peter Mandelson returns. But Tories seem almost afraid of the nationalist grievance.

And if Stormont returns with Sinn Fein having secured its non negotiable demand of an Irish language act but without a concrete mechanism for penalising any party that abuses mandatory coalition by collapsing devolution for everyone, what is to stop power-sharing being crashed again in the future?

The Ulster Unionist Party yesterday made clear to this newspaper that it is still opposed to an Irish language act, and specifically to an Irish language commissioner.

The only reason their long-standing opposition to an act seemed to be in doubt is because Mr Smith had said there was agreement among all parties other than the DUP.

This was wrong, unless the talks proposals do not include an Irish language commissioner — if they do, the UUP is also opposed. Such an omission seems unlikely.

Mary Lou McDonald TD said yesterday: “...no single party can act now as a block to the necessary progress...”

Michelle O’Neill MLA told the BBC: “...everyone knows what needs to be delivered upon in order to get the assembly restored...”

In other words the Sinn Fein veto is still in place (attracting not a whisper of criticism from the prime minister’s choice as secretary of state, Mr Smith).

Incidentally, why were Irish language groups and the Committee for the Administration on Justice at Stormont on Thursday at a critical time in the talks?

The apparent determination of the NIO and Julian Smith to placate nationalist Ireland, and their refusal to help unionists the way Irish ministers help nationalists, does raise the question of whether a Stormont election is the way to go.

Unionists might lose seats but so might Sinn Fein. Unionism is likely to be in a minority now in any event.

Restoring Stormont after an election, but with no preconditions, might well be better than doing so now on the basis of concessions that merely sow the seeds of future instability.

• Ben Lowry (@BenLowry2) is News Letter deputy editor

• Ben Lowry: The worst point in the calendar is over• Ben Lowry in 2018: A weakened PM and a weakened unionism