DUP’s 'Bobby Ewing in the shower' moment

I used to be allowed to stay up a bit later on a Wednesday night to watch Dallas. The 1980s soap based on the lives and loves of Texas oil tycoons and their families. Bobby Ewing was the heartthrob character. The good looking, much nicer brother of the rogue JR. But Bobby was killed off at the end of a series, much to the dismay of avid viewers. It was a nightmare. How could the show possibly go on without him? But it did. And then, some episodes later, the scriptwriters relented and found a way to bring Bobby back from the dead. His poor widow woke up and found him in the shower, larger than life. The episodes without darling Bobby were all just a terrible dream and the show carried on with him back on set. But viewers never quite forgave Dallas for asking them to accept Bobby’s unbelievable return in the shower, even though they were desperate for it. In a chat with a unionist last week, he compared the turmoil in the DUP to Bobby Ewing in the shower. It’s not the first time the TV moment in history has been used to describe a time in local politics, but it is surely apt once again. The DUP wants to wake up from the nightmare of the last few weeks to find Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was elected as leader all along. The DUP wants the 21 day leadership of Edwin Poots to just be a bad dream. Nominations for the leadership opened on Saturday and will close tomorrow. A much shorter nomination period for those interested in the top job is another sign that the DUP wants to wake up from this nightmare as quickly as possible. The party will then vote on Saturday for a successor to Edwin Poots. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson will then have to put on the performance of his life. He will need to unite the DUP. Some members have already left, akin to going off to join the cast of Dynasty perhaps, the other US soap which rivalled Dallas in the 1980s. He will then need to sort out his assembly team, how long will he allow Paul Givan to remain in the role as First Minister? Reports suggest that it will be tied to the plotlines around what Sir Jeffrey Donaldson tries to renegotiate around Northern Ireland Protocol and Irish language. And then he will need to convince the electorate - that indeed the last few weeks have just been a bad dream and he is the best leading man.