How history repeats itself – ironically, if not farcically. More than 100 years ago, the Irish Parliamentary Party held the balance of power at Westminster, forcing prime minister HH Asquith’s hand on Home Rule for Ireland.

And now, in an almost comedic re-run, an Irish political party – the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – holds the balance of power at Westminster, and will force Prime Minister Theresa May’s hand to follow their agenda.

Back in the 1900s, there was a certain amount of patronising attitudes, if not outright sneering, at the Irish MPs for their provincial ways (although the House missed their eloquence and wit once they departed, after 1918).