It’s easy to take an unsympathetic view of the Democratic Unionist Party. For many, its politicians are caricatures of the dour Ulsterman come to life; flinty types with an antediluvian outlook. An unfortunate reminder – for a certain type of Englishman – of all that ‘Irish stuff’ they would rather not have to deal with.

The back and forth over the Northern Ireland Protocol has seen this sentiment ratcheted up. Jeffrey Donaldson’s standpoint – no return to devolution without his party’s tests being met – is engendering incredible frustration among government ministers and a press tired of having to surrender column inches to this intractable tale.

One-time Brexit hardman Steve Baker, now a Northern Ireland Office minister, recently tweeted his approval for a spiky interview by BBC Northern Ireland’s Mark Carruthers, who did a passable Paxman impression when interviewing the DUP’s Paul Givan about the impact of his party’s absence from Stormont. A Times leader column urged the DUP ‘to wise up’ and take whatever deal emerges.

Fatigue with unionist politicians is not a new phenomenon in Westminster. A recurring pattern in London’s management of Northern Ireland is that, when the DUP decides not to budge, the government will simply go around them. The mood music points to Rishi Sunak considering that option again.

As it stands, this situation is nothing but an all-out assault on the notion of equality of citizenship between the constituent parts of the United Kingdom

Sympathy for the DUP worldview is also hamstrung by the party’s role in Brexit. Having campaigned for it, there is a feeling that having made their bed, they should lie in it. This is despite the whiff of betrayal which hangs around the way in which Boris Johnson secured his deal; that he is now offering advice to the DUP from the sidelines on what to do next is an unparalleled act of chutzpah, even for him.

It is also easy to laugh at the DUP. The party is still cosying up to the Tory European Research Group, despite most of that organisation’s members voting for the deal which has led to Northern Ireland’s suspension in this constitutional twilight zone. Nationalists are more likely to smirk than sympathise with the DUP; a badly played political hand since 2016, electoral setbacks and demographic change make them feel that the inevitable united Ireland is around the corner. Why not have some fun at the same time?

Yet all this finger pointing and reducing a political movement purely to a party or the personalities around it misses the point and, in the case of Northern Ireland, is hampering progress towards a deal. Some will claim this is an asinine debate around red and green lanes and customs data which the DUP should simply suck up.

That’s a perfectly fine rationalisation in the sterile surroundings of a Whitehall or Brussels office. But as it stands, this situation is nothing but an all-out assault on the notion of equality of citizenship between the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. It is not difficult to imagine how a Tory MP such as Simon Hoare – chairman of the Northern Ireland select committee and a critic of the unionist stance – would react to a trade border springing up around his North Dorset constituency.

A deal over the Protocol is desirable, but not at any price. It is also noticeable that those voices in Northern Ireland who once called for ‘rigorous implementation’ of it have rowed back on that stance, an admission of the problems it poses. Yet, there is still a large rump who feel the DUP and unionism should take their medicine; is it that not the sort of crude majoritarianism which nationalism has long had an issue with?

In a world where politics is increasingly all about ‘vibes’, it is predictable that the government, the EU and the Americans want this all sorted by the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement in April. If no deal is done, expect plenty of sound and fury about intransigent unionists spoiling the party. If there is no big get together, perhaps a period of reflection on what is motivating the unionist refusal to join in might be useful?