Some analysts have assumed that by removing restrictions on abortion, the NI Executive Formation Act will make a return to Stormont easier for the DUP and Sinn Féin. However, taking this controversial issue out of Stormont’s hands may have made power-sharing less likely than ever.

John Coulter previously provided a clear description of the cross-party dilemmas posed by the prospect of abortion access in Northern Ireland. I am not best placed to judge the effect of the pro-life protests outside the offices of the two main nationalist parties.

However, the past few months appear to have strained relationships within the DUP. Differences have emerged between those who see abortion as an important issue and those who regard it as a defining political principle. Amongst the latter some feel the party leadership could have moved faster and gone further in response to Westminster’s legislation.

DUP MLAs close to the party leadership have sought to reassure pro-life supporters that they will return to Stormont and campaign to restrict access to abortion. The good news for pro-choice campaigners is that the DUP are very unlikely to succeed on the floor of the Assembly. The 30-member threshold for a petition of concern would be met by parties committed to a pro-choice position (Sinn Féin, People Before Profit and the Green Party) before even requiring the support of pro-choice members from the Alliance Party and the SDLP.

Those celebrating the changes in our laws will be reassured of Sinn Féin’s commitment to their cause in the Dáil where TDs voted against amendments prohibiting abortion on the grounds of gender or disability and against requiring doctors to provide pain relief for foetuses. Once any party has committed to the position that abortion access is an essential right there is little wiggle room for compromise.

Other DUP members have made the political calculation regarding the petition of concern and are acutely aware of the danger of being rendered powerless on the issue. Prominent anti-abortion group SPUC (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children) have already called on pro-life representatives not to strike a compromise that would result in “normalising abortion.”

Even those prepared to compromise on an abortion limit realise supporters would be alienated by the sight of abortion restrictions being blocked by the petition of concern.

The idea of an anti-abortion party appointing a health minister or agreeing a budget which funds abortion services will be abhorrent to those who regard opposing abortion as a defining political principle. Some MLAs have already advised pro-life supporters that although they want to return to Stormont, a change to the new status quo is an essential part of any talks to form an Executive.

It remains unclear what these differences mean for Arlene Foster’s leadership of the party. Perhaps it is a relatively minor issue compared to a Brexit strategy that has endangered the Union, the impending results of the RHI inquiry and a general election where multiple seats are under threat.

For the party’s most strident opponents of abortion there are clear encouragements from recent developments in British politics. Ten years ago, leaving the European Union was only the preoccupation of a vocal minority within the Conservative Party, but internal and external pressure made it the defining issue for successive party leaders.

In the short-term Brexit and a general election are greater barriers to forming an Executive, but abortion isn’t about to disappear from our list of local political differences or from public debate. It is clear that divides are already deepening.

On BBC’s Sunday Morning Live, barrister Charlotte Proudman argued that abortion was just like “any other operation” and should be completely free from restrictions throughout the United Kingdom.

Later that evening, during an interview on The View, Arlene Foster committed the DUP to repealing the “totally unacceptable” new laws in Northern Ireland.

I wonder if we will come to see the previous three months of increased pressure on the DUP and Sinn Féin as a missed opportunity to return to power-sharing and restore the Good Friday institutions.