The Return of Dual Monarchy?

Last night on Hearts and Minds Sinn Fein MLA John O'Dowd and the DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson had a nice wee chat about the talks that broke down last week. Or rather the talks which didn't even begin last week. I don't remember much about the "debate" (Jeffrey blockage) but John O'Dowd mentioned "joint authority" which reminded me of early Sinn Fein.

Arthur Griffith's vision was of a dual monarchy based on the Austro-Hungarian model. "Joint authority," if that is Sinn Fein's policy, seems like a return to that model but obviously without the monarchy bit. Kind of an advanced advanced nationalism. I'll tell you when I figure out what that means.