These are crucial days that will shape the future of NI

What is unclear is whether it will be imposed on unionists or whether it will have DUP assent.

Arlene Foster last night said that there were still gaps before it could back a proposed agreement from Boris Johnson, which the EU seems happy with, but the details of which have not been divulged more widely.

The DUP was meeting the prime minister last evening, for the second night in succession.

If it is the case that they are about to endorse the proposals, here are the possible justifications that they could make.

They could say that the prospect of ‘no deal’ is intolerable, and particularly risky for unionists, adding to a sense of upheaval, demands for a border poll, and massive disruption for the business community.

They could emphasise that Northern Ireland was to remain in the UK customs territory, which is said to be part of the proposal, and, flowing from that, that it will benefit from UK trade deals.

They could say that there will be a role for Stormont, when such input was removed by the EU from the revised backstop (the second version of the backstop in December 2017, in which DUP protests about the first version led to paragraphs 49 and 50 being inserted, which included an assembly lock).

It is clear that there will be no ‘veto’ from the assembly, but more likely a parallel consent mechanism, which effectively means that the agreed (or imposed) new arrangement never changes, because there is never agreement from both communities to change it.

The DUP has a lot to consider. Northern Ireland is now facing a major border in the Irish Sea, unless the UK stays in EU.

If the deal is as agreed as reported, Dublin has made concessions, but Britain and unionism far more so.

These are crucial days ahead.