Sunak has shown what can happen when you take a political risk – the DUP should follow his example

Editorial: The majority of the people of Northern Ireland want their politicians to get back to work and won’t thank the DUP for extending their leave of absence

It is very much his achievement, and he has indeed succeeded where Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss failed (PA)

The deal is done. In the words of the arch-Eurosceptic Steve Baker, never an easy man to please, “The prime minister has played a blinder.” The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, refers to Mr Sunak as “dear Rishi”, with a tenderness seldom glimpsed when she had to grin and bear her meetings with Boris Johnson.

She hailed “a new chapter in our partnership”, and she is exactly right. Mr Sunak has plucked a deal out of the nettles of the old Northern Ireland protocol, and named it the Windsor Framework. It is a turning point; the moment when the UK and the EU can begin to heal some wounds.

It goes without saying that none of this anguish would have had to be endured had Brexit not happened. Given that, the announcement of the Windsor Framework is unalloyed good news.

After two of the most intractable, long-standing political arguments – Ireland and Europe – were rolled into one impenetrable, insurmountable, indefatigable mountain of a problem, Mr Sunak should feel satisfied that he has negotiated a deal as good as this one appears to be.

It is very much his achievement, and he has indeed succeeded where Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss failed. The differences were both personal and political. Mr Sunak, by nature a courteous technocrat, was paradoxically more to European tastes, and more along the lines of a conventional rational European statesman, despite being an original “true believer” in Brexit. This stands in stark contrast to Ms May, Mr Johnson and Ms Truss, all of whom were more or less converts to the cause.

No one can accuse Mr Sunak of being a phoney or an advocate of “Brino” (Brexit in name only). He has – or ought to have, if his self-interested critics would only give him the credit – the credentials to go to Brussels and get a deal that furthers Britain’s interests without alienating its European allies and partners.

That is no mean prize. It shows what can be done when leaders trust one another, identify their collective interests, and are prepared to compromise and take risks for a greater good. Some might wonder why Britain hasn’t tried this before in recent years.

Mr Sunak seems to enjoy an easier rapport with European leaders such as Ms von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron than any of his predecessors did, but this breakthrough is also down to leadership, hard work, and a certain attention to detail.

There was no silly nationalistic posturing, nor were there empty threats, or casual insults about friends and enemies. There was, instead, a simple determination to settle this outstanding business once and for all. The deal has finally been done, it seems, and extracted for the final time from the oven.

As ever, the devil will be in the detail. Those determined to find fault will do so. For as long as Northern Ireland remains, formally, a part of the EU customs union and the single market, the influence of the EU and its institutions – including the Court of Justice of the European Union – will persist.

But there is to be far “less EU” in Northern Ireland’s affairs than before. Politically, the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly will be unique in getting a say on EU rules, and most of the inconveniences of the protocol will disappear. It may now be possible for the country properly to enjoy the “best of both worlds” status promised in the original deal: membership of the EU and the UK economic area, using the pound, and retaining the common travel area. The economic potential, if all goes well, could be huge.

The Sunak deal has all but dissolved the acrimonious border checks at the Port of Larne, which proved such an obstacle to the protocol gaining popular acceptance. Whether the onerous bureaucracy was inevitable given the terms of the deal Mr Johnson negotiated and signed off, or whether it was due to the overzealous implementation of the terms of said deal by EU officials, is now academic. As a practical matter, goods not destined for Ireland and the rest of the EU will now flow freely from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

For the UK, the deal opens up a wider vista of mutually advantageous cooperation. Britain should now be allowed to become an associate member of the EU Horizon research programme, suspended after the protocol row erupted.

There is much work to be done on the Europe-wide refugee crisis, and on the issue of small boats crossing the Channel. Musicians and artists can start to dream of being able to tour Europe again. Gradually, some of the more brutal consequences of Brexit can be smoothed and negotiated away.

The next obvious major step should be to add a security and defence cooperation chapter to the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement, as originally planned by Ms May. Events in Ukraine highlight just how foolish it was for Mr Johnson to abandon this.

As for peace in Ireland, it is now up to the DUP to rise to the challenge. With the great majority of their seven tests met, and with this transformational deal about to be implemented in any case, they would be wise to find a way to say yes to it.

If they do not, then it will seem very much as though they are simply too proud to admit that they came second in the last Stormont elections, and are unwilling to nominate their leader – Sir Jeffrey Donaldson – as deputy first minister to Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill.

In reality, they are joint first ministers, each with a veto, but perhaps the Democratic Unionists’ sensitivities can’t cope with the (perceived) humiliation.

It will be their loss, because the executive will have a direct role for the first time in Brussels, and the majority of the people of Northern Ireland want their politicians to get back to work and won’t thank the DUP for extending their leave of absence.

Mr Sunak has shown what can happen when you take a political risk, compromise, and make a deal. The DUP should follow his example.