Spelling it out at the B.O.Y.N.E.

In their last meeting at the new Boyne Visitor Centre, the outgoing Taoiseach and the outgoing First Minister exchanged pledges to work towards a better future. Ian Paisley vowed that there would be "no turning back" to "the bad old days". Certainly the sight of the two men, flanked by two cannons, but engaging in no fights (sham or otherwise) represented a striking image of the new era.

I didn't travel down to the Boyne, but I did get a full copy of Ian Paisley's speech. It's structured around the initials of the Boyne.

B is for Boyne. O is for Orange Input. Y is for You and I. N is for No Turning Back. E is for Evermore.

What was the rhetorical inspiration for this "backronym"? Could Ian Paisley, shortly to wave goodbye to Martin McGuinness, have been thinking of the Dolly Parton ballad D.I.V.O.R.C.E? Or has he been humming the more upbeat D.I.S.C.O?

Or with Bertie just a cannon's length away, was he thinking of Cecelia Ahern's P.S. I Love You?

(P.S. I have been informed that I should have credited D.I.V.O.R.C.E to Tammy Wynette, not Dolly Parton!)

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