Every Monday evening a group gathers at the busy junction at the Collon in Derry. On the dot of 6pm they unfurl their flags; passing drivers honk their horns in support as they wave the horizontal stripes of black, white and green, and a red triangle, back and forth.
It is a visual demonstration of the extent of the support for, and affinity with, the people of Gaza and Palestine in nationalist areas in the North, and helps explain why last year there was such outcry among Sinn Féin’s grass roots at its leadership’s decision to go ahead with the traditional St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House.
It also helps explain why this year Sinn Féin is not going to Washington. The suggestion by President Trump that the US should take control of Gaza, remove its Palestinian population and rebuild it as the “Riviera of the Middle East” would have been unthinkable under his predecessor Joe Biden; it was equally unthinkable to that same Sinn Féin grassroots that the party should have any truck with the author of such a plan, never mind exchange pleasantries with him in the Oval Office.
Twelve months ago Michelle O’Neill and the Deputy First Minister, the DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly, were the toast of Washington. As the two women at the head of the newly-restored Stormont government, one a Catholic nationalist, the other a Protestant unionist, they symbolised hope; they represented what Northern Ireland could be.
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The SDLP boycotted the White House last year and will do so again; Northern nationalism will go unrepresented at in the Oval Office this St Patrick’s Day. “This is about taking a principled stand,” Ms O’Neill said.
Left to fly the flag solo is Ms Little-Pengelly. She is expected to meet the US president in the Oval Office and get a few minutes with him; when she does so it will be as the voice of Northern Ireland.
This in itself is no doubt an attraction; on this biggest of all political stages she will no longer be one of a pair with opposing political identities but the leader of Northern Ireland.
This is highly unusual. Theirs is a joint office with joint powers, and both leaders are currently in North Carolina [as of Sunday] at the head of a business delegation, from where Ms Little-Pengelly will travel on to Washington alone.
Ms O’Neill is “comfortable” with this, she told the Assembly, saying “the Deputy First Minister has a different view and will travel to be part of the White House reception and other events this year. That’s entirely her call.”
This is not only politically expedient but also reflects a different political reality for Ms Little-Pengelly. Gaza is not a touchstone issue for unionism which, to put it bluntly, tends to identify with Israel rather than Palestine, and senior DUP figures have been previously supportive of Mr Trump.
Hence the decision to attend was not difficult for Ms Little-Pengelly, and conveniently so it means Sinn Féin can make its stand without Northern Ireland losing its coveted access to the US president.
Of course events have intervened since. The mugging of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Oval Office and all that has unfolded as a result has created a different sort of dilemma for the DUP, which has stated firmly and repeatedly that it supports Ukraine and the UK government’s stance against Russia.
On the BBC’s Talkback last week presenter William Crawley put it to Ms Little-Pengelly that “you’re a very strong supporter of Ukraine, aren’t you ... so it could be quite awkward if that came up?”
Indeed. “It’s about taking up the opportunities that are presented to us as a very small place in the world, and yet Northern Ireland does get that access,” Ms Little-Pengelly replied.
A valid argument, and not dissimilar to the justification given by Sinn Féin last year – or, indeed, the Taoiseach this year. But if the chaos and controversy of recent weeks has demonstrated anything it is that foreign leaders must tread carefully around Mr Trump.
She intends to “champion Northern Ireland, making sure Northern Ireland is on the radar in a positive way...let people know what the opportunities are in terms of collaboration and investment”.
Yet in those valuable few minutes in which Ms Little-Pengelly will have the US president’s ear, for all that may be gained there is the potential for much to be lost.
Mr Trump has no demonstrable interest in the North, and is already at odds with Ireland, the UK and the EU. In such circumstances even the souvenir photo will hardly be a good look.
Perhaps the best that can be hoped for is that, to borrow a line from the Northern lexicon, it all passes off peacefully.
