I don't think that's fair, considering the DUP are a product of Northern Ireland's rather complex political situation.
Only somebody whose nationality isn't threatened could say that. It's a sad fact that every election here is fought entirely differently. It's not a case of Left & Right, I desperately wish they were. Unionist areas return Unionist members, Nationalist areas return Nationalist members, everything else is secondary.
Bear in mind I was raised in the Republic as the Protestant son of British parents. I'm quite aware of the "complex political situation", and I've often read comments from people in the North that people with my background often had a hard time. One person even suggested we were all ethnically cleansed - I must have been sick and stayed at home that day.....needless to say I actually had rather an idyllic upbringing.
Many people here vote DUP holding thier nose, knowing full well the parties thoughts, but if the DUP didn't win, then the 'other side' would, with the resultant possibility of a Border poll, with all the disruption that would involve, which in itself brings the possibility of the border going.
I disagree strongly with the DUP position on gay marriage and creation, but do I vote for SF who are for those things but want to deny me my British citizenship? The answer is I hold my nose and vote Unionist, in the hope that public opinion will change the DUP.
Ok, perhaps I should apologise and rephrase. I sympathise with the needing to hold your breath when you vote (rest assured it's no better on the mainland, and I've tried voting for all 3 major parties at various times), and obviously given past events there is a genuine fear of the outcomes of a non Unionist in the First Ministers seat.
I also wasn't criticising all Unionist parties, just the DUP in particular - and rest assured I have little time for SF either.
I would also suggest you're naive if you think the DUP are ever likely to change. Real change is only going to happen when they become irrelevant because people aren't voting for them any more. Voting for them gives their neanderthal views a legitimacy they don't deserve.
In this particular scenario, I think Boris was playing up to the fears held by certain people in NI, and using them to his advantage - and I would question the intelligence of anyone, in NI or the rest of the UK, who thinks he really has their best interests at heart.