So who says politics is boring?

Events in the last few days fall into the “couldn’t make it up” category, and last Thursday night when the polls closed at 10pm, the drama began to unfold immediately when the exit polls revealed the extraordinary result of a hung parliament.

I stayed up all night watching the coverage.

By Saturday morning there was more television; with Irish rugby players playing a key part in the Lions win in New Zealand alongside their colleagues from England, Scotland and Wales. This, after reminders recently of the way solders from the 16th Irish division and 36th Ulster division fought and died side by side in the World War One Battle of Messines 100 years ago.

It would seem that in war, sport, trade or whatever common ground there is, the British and Irish can work together, despite centuries of strife and conflict between the two.

It’s a complicated relationship, and now we suddenly see a group of, er, Ulster people holding an unexpected and amazing hand in the survival of Theresa May’s Government at Westminster.

Not that the British right-wing tabloids take much account of such complications or nuances. Having hammered Jeremy Corbyn’s “friendship with IRA terrorists” for weeks, it’s now the turn of the DUP to enter a very uncomfortable media spotlight.

As soon as it emerged that May might turn to a DUP deal, one commentator described the party as “anti-LGBT rights, anti-womens’ rights, climate change deniers and backed by NI terrorists.” This was far from an isolated view; on Channel Four Jon Snow said the DUP was one of the most regressive and extreme parties in the UK and the media generally gorged themselves on pictures of Peter Robinson and Ian Paisley in Ulster Resistance berries and quotes from the fundamentalist creationist wing of the party.

Neanderthal was one of the more kinder comments, and it was taken as read that the DUP were slightly to the right of Attila the Hun.

No wonder journalist Eamonn Mallie referred to “media hounds unleashed, no poodles.”

Perhaps, the DUP may have realised that the Northern Ireland media were more balanced and professional after all. But methinks not!

This is a party whose attitude to their critics reminds me of the notorious Millwall football fans who sing “Nobody likes us, we don’t care.” And after all there is the small matter of 10 seats and 292,316 votes. Undoubtedly, there are always varying factors as to why people vote for a particular party, but the fact remains that if the DUP are considered so socially conservative and backward, then what does that say about such a swathe of public opinion in Northern Ireland?

Well, yes.

They might even think that the newspapers don’t have the same influence any more; and indeed the bile that the Daily Mail and the Sun poured on Corbyn throughout the election campaign came to nought, so clearly their influence is waning. While social media worked for the left extremely well.

But, take note the memes with pictures of Theresa May in a loyalist flute band, or a van with an RHI boiler delivering to Downing Street, whose kerbs were painted red, white and blue were attracting also much attention to the deal.

And in the euphoria that the DUP is feeling this week, this attention from the mainstream media or social media in Britain shines a light on them and on Northern Ireland attitudes generally. And they’ll discover that a lot of Unionists who consider themselves fiercely pro-British and an integral part of the UK actually abhor many of the social reforms and changes which are commonplace on “the mainland”.

Actually, if you look at social reform over the last couple of decades, is it not ironic that changes in the Republic leave the people there much more aligned with Britain than us north of the Border?

Another health warning is the fact that doing a deal with the Tories may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

Looking this week at the sheepish Nick Clegg losing his seat is a reminder of what happens to minority parties who are used and abused the way the Lib Dems were by David Cameron in 2010. Nobody, particularly students and families, felt sorry for Clegg who promised no university fees and immediately jettisoned his promise at the sniff of power.

It should be said, though, that it’s unlikely that former Enniskillen Collegiate girl Arlene Foster and Old Portoran Nigel Dodds would be such a soft touch as the pair entered the famous Number 10 door on Tuesday. After the roller coaster year Mrs. Foster has had, she must be pinching herself to think she is suddenly in such a powerful position again.

Politicians on all sides in Northern Ireland have been in negotiating mode for at least 25 years, while Mrs. May has been looking as if she couldn’t negotiate a tenner off a new motor at Western Cars. We’ll soon see who the “bloody difficult woman is.”

Please let’s hope that the Portadown Orange Order’s plea to help them march down the Garvaghey Road is not high on the shopping list. More likely, they will look for a financial boost for Northern Ireland’s roads, schools and hospitals. Mrs. May might suddenly find a magic money tree after all. And if they get it, what then for the return of Stormont?

As events continue apace, I couldn’t help think what a hypocritical, cynical world politics is. For a start, there are Tories who seem to be holding their noses at having to do a deal with the DUP.

While David Cameron gets credit, justifiably, for introducing social change such as same sex marriage in England and Wales, it’s a fact that he and his chums stuffed the vulnerable with their austerity agenda. And while May makes noises about helping those people, her clumsy attempts at hammering the elderly don’t show she cares much.

Ironically, the DUP manifesto shows a more caring approach to the grey vote.

The Tories can hardly be described as bleeding heart liberals, so maybe they and the DUP can align themselves nicely on the right.

And as we watch on, more hypocrisy. Sinn Fein are loving the media hysteria about the DUP; this would be the same Sinn Fein who are (rightly) complaining about undue negativity from the media in the Republic. The Labour party in Britain has been disgracefully treated by the media in Britain, but they’re only too happy to trot out hyperbolic propaganda against the DUP.

Including Labour’s disgust at a Conservative-DUP deal. This would be the same Labour party that, it has emerged, tried to do a deal to stay in power in 2010 with the, eh, DUP.

That’s politics, folks, and if Foster and Dodds manage to secure a billion or so for here, so be it.

Then comes the funny bit; we’ll need the Assembly up and running to implement it.

Perhaps, in all the deals between east and west, north and south, the pennies will drop that the most important deal of all will be inside Northern Ireland.

The electoral map with a band of green running from Derry, down to here and over to Armagh, contrasting with the red in the east makes interesting viewing. It shows how divided we are politically, and we keep saying that we need at some point to agree to share society.

Perhaps the filthy lucre will be the catalyst for coming to a deal to begin that process.