According to an impassioned letter written by Ian Paisley in 2003 to the Lottery Heritage Fund after they'd turned down Mr Sweeney's grant application for the project, Lottery officials are certainly not in favour.

The local council, in whose bailiwick the Causeway falls, don't want Sweeney either.

The Planning Service, it seems, is against it, although Ms Foster has so far not released details of its recommendations.

Contrary to claims by Ian Paisley in his letter to the Lottery Heritage Fund, UNESCO, who have designated the place an international heritage site, are against Mr Sweeney's proposal, too.

And it's a fair bet that the architect who won the international competition to design the visitors centre under a public ownership plan isn't terribly wild about Mr Sweeney either.

Mr Paisley's letter, incidentally, only came to light after demands made under the Freedom of Information Act. The contents were not volunteered by its author.

Instead, our First Minister stood quietly by while his son, Ian jnr, got it hot and heavy from the media on the subject of suspected cronyism.

For the kerfuffle first erupted, we recall, when Arlene Foster announced she was "minded" to give Mr Sweeney the contract.

Ian Paisley junior was asked by a reporter whether he knew the man.

He replied that he "knew of him" when, in fact, it transpired that he had bought an apartment from Mr Sweeney and had gone fishing with him.

Predictably, some MLAs are calling for an inquiry and I hope they get it.

As for Paisleys snr and jnr, welcome to the world of real politics, chaps, where every move and possible motivation is open to scrutiny and questioned.

Opposition is one thing but being in power is quite another.

During years of raucous opposition, the DUP leader's every utterance was received by his followers almost as Holy Writ.

Now, his own church has challenged him and he and jnr have, so far, handled the Sweeney affair with unbelievable political gaucheness.

Changed times, chaps.

Kate expectations

NO one who saw Kate McCann walking down the aircraft steps when she, her husband and their twins returned to Britain could doubt the toll that her daughter's disappearance had taken on her.

Suddenly the Press pack was hinting that the shambolic Portuguese police might be right in suspecting that she had been responsible for little Madeleine's death. The hate mail which resulted could have given the rock of ages a nervous breakdown.

Then, as the cops in Portugal were revealed as indulging in wishful fantasy with no hard evidence to speak of, fickle public opinion again turned in Kate's favour.

But I reckon, Kate, that your latest move in granting a major interview in great detail about the agony you are undergoing is NOT a good idea.

Though you believe that keeping her on the front page keeps alive your hopes of one day finding her, I think you are wrong. There has now been such saturation coverage for four full months of every twist, turn and red herring that the public will soon be ready to turn against you once more.

Hiring a spin doctor hasn't helped. Stand by quite soon for editors to encourage their readers to label you a self-regarding publicity junkie.

They may well be wrong but believe me, it will happen and it will hurt.