A UNIONIST "summit" organised by the Orange Order has flopped after just a handful of people turned up.
The Shared Heritage, Shared Future event took place in Edinburgh on Thursday, billed as a "significant summit" which would bring together voices from Northern Ireland and Scotland to "celebrate the deep historical and cultural connections between our communities while looking towards greater co-operation in the future".
It was organised in response to the landmark meeting in Cardiff by the leaders of the Celtic Alliance, where they signed a memorandum of understanding demanding that the UK Government allow them to hold referendums on independence.
After those involved talked a big game about this being an "exciting time for Unionism", The National was interested to see inside this enthusiastic room. The pictures that emerged did not quite live up to the promo.
Thursday's event was attended by just 10 people, including chair Marie Macklin, Orange Order grand master Andrew Murray, and a delegation of politicians from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
They were seen gathering in a small conference room, with each guest kitted out with their very own snazzy Union Jack notebook.
Shared Heritage Shared Future Summit- Edinburgh Thank you @PhillipBrett21 . Always great to catch up my friend and welcome the amazing @duponline team. A fantastic initiative with much discussed that has now laid the foundations to future collaborations across Northern… https://t.co/cxaxtHv0Lf pic.twitter.com/UI9VCv1AGU
— Dr Marie M S Macklin CBE (@MarieMacklin) September 17, 2026
The meeting was closed to the media – and it seems, to anyone other than the DUP, who hold no seats in Scotland – so we can't tell you the ins and outs of what was discussed.
Northern Ireland outlet News Letter does, however, report that the so-called "summit" has issued an appeal to the First Minister urging him to "take part in future dialogue about strengthening links between the home nations of the UK".
Chair Macklin praised the event as "a fantastic initiative", while the Orange Order said it delivered "genuine dialogue and a clear statement about who we are and what we believe in".
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a summit is "a very important meeting between government leaders from different countries". We're not really sure Thursday's coffee morning counts.
While the "summit" didn't really work out, at least they came away with some free stationery.
