WHETHER it's joint authority parity of esteem or merely a refusal to face the breakdown of the ceasefire the invitation to this year's St Patrick's Day party next Thursday at the Bunker, the Anglo-Irish secretariat at Maryfield outside Belfast, is certainly novel. It has the harp emblazoned on the left and the lion, crown and unicorn on the right and comes under the names of David Donoghue, "the Irish Joint Secretary" and Peter Bell "the British Joint Secretary".
Time was when such names were highly guarded secrets and only the trusted few penetrated the defences of the Bunker. In recent years, however, the St Patrick's Day do has become highly fashionable, and not just among the trendy liberals and assertive ecumenists of Belfast. There are certain people, of course, who wouldn't be seen in the place.
Can we now expect Messrs Bell and Donoghue to issue similar invites for Queen Elizabeth's birthday on June 15th or even, indeed, for the 12th of July? Parity of esteem after all