As the article pointed out, under the Good Friday accord, the U.K. gov't. is supposed to act a "referee" between Sinn Fein and the DUP if/when disagreements arise wth respect to power-sharing.  However, if the gov't. is beholden to the DUP in order to get its legislation through the U.K. House of Commons, then how can it play the role of "honest broker" in Northern Ireland ??