Mr Robinson's elevation

ANOTHER CHANGE in leadership has taken place which will have a bearing on the North-South and the greater Anglo-Irish relationship…

ANOTHER CHANGE in leadership has taken place which will have a bearing on the North-South and the greater Anglo-Irish relationship. We start this week with good wishes for First Minister-designate Peter Robinson. However, this is a nervous moment for all those with their hopes invested in the Northern Ireland settlement concluded by his predecessor with Sinn Féin just over a year ago.

The reassurance is that Mr Robinson was himself a major contributor - some would say the driving force - in that negotiation. Long regarded as a moderniser struggling against the instincts of his own party, there is every reason to believe Mr Robinson intends to continue along the pragmatic unionist path taken by David Trimble and, latterly, by the Rev Ian Paisley.

Yet, Mr Robinson would be the first to admit it was the Paisley imprimatur that was required to make the historic powersharing deal. There will be concern to see how the post-Paisley DUP sets about making the deal stick without the protective cover provided by "The Big Man" in whose shadow Mr Robinson, his deputy Nigel Dodds, and their next-generation colleagues have sheltered for so long. That is not to say that they are not more than equal to the task. As Dr Paisley has discovered - like many before him in the peace process - no one individual is ever indispensable. That said, the anxiety here is also informed by the circumstances surrounding Dr Paisley's departure much sooner than he had intended.

The DUP faithful were in celebratory mode this weekend, saluting the party's founding father and, until now, sole leader. As they heaped praise upon him, did any of the colleagues feel a twinge of guilt for their part in denying Dr Paisley his wish to serve the remaining three years of his term as First Minister? Most would probably respond with a wry smile and a world-weary shrug. Politics is a rough sport after all, and few if any played it with less restraint than "the Doc" himself.

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Moreover, some of the pressure for this orderly transfer of power reflected natural concern about the octogenarian leader's inevitably fading powers. Alongside that, however, was the evident discomfiture of many DUP MPs and Assembly members at the "Chuckle Brothers" depiction of Dr Paisley's surprisingly enthusiastic partnership with Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

While hoping for continued progress under the Robinson leadership, there is one big question. How will Mr Robinson square the circle between the process of endless compromises necessary to sustain the compulsory coalition at Stormont, and the tendency of many of his colleagues still to define themselves in terms of smashing Sinn Féin or, at least, of keeping republicans "in their place"?

The Sinn Féin leadership, meanwhile, should resist any temptation to set some early "test" of the new unionist leadership, not least because the IRA's own transition is not yet complete. Both these parties have still more change to deliver. They will need each other to make good their promise to all the peoples of this island.