Time & Perspective Quote by Dick Spring

The line is a politician's tightrope act: a public reassurance disguised as a private warning. Dick Spring frames "alienated the Unionists" not as a moral failure or a strategic blunder, but as a feeling he can choose not to have. That conditional - "If I felt..". - does quiet work. It softens accountability, suggests calm managerial confidence, and leaves room to deny the premise even while acknowledging the risk.

Spring's real subject isn't unionism so much as process. "Discussion and dialogue" is the language of legitimacy in a peace-process era: the claim that politics, not pressure, is the engine of change. By emphasizing how much time has been spent "trying to open up" talks, he signals investment, patience, and good faith. It's also a subtle reminder to other audiences - nationalists, Dublin, London, international observers - that outreach has been attempted, so any breakdown can be framed as someone else's refusal to engage.

There's a second message aimed inward: alienation would "worry me" because it threatens momentum and optics. Unionist participation is the proof-of-concept for cross-community politics in Northern Ireland; lose it and the whole architecture looks like a one-sided conversation. The careful specificity - "Unionist Parties" - avoids naming hardliners or moderates, keeping doors open while refusing to pick a fight.

The intent is diplomatic, but the subtext is tactical: we're committed to inclusivity, and we want credit for the effort, whatever the outcome.