The SDLP and Sinn Féin have, over the course of the election campaign, sought to solicit your vote, painting the DUP as a party against peace and political stability and whose election would be detrimental to the interests of your section of the community.
It is true to say that the DUP would not be the easy touch the UUP has been, but have you benefited by your politicians wiping David Trimble's eye and suckering the UUP? He did a deal he cannot deliver.
This election will lead to new negotiations. Another victory for nationalism over the UUP in those negotiations would no more bring stability in the future than it has in the past.
If massive unionist opposition to the Belfast Agreement still exists, no deal will be delivered or last. Without unionist consent political stability cannot be achieved.
Your politicians, for years, argued that in a divided society it was necessary to have the support of both sections of the community. If they really meant it then an agreement without unionist consent is not only worthless but, in their terms, not a foundation upon which a stable Northern Ireland can be built.
The DUP is not a threat to you nor is it a threat to progress. A deal that is endorsed by the DUP will stick.
When the DUP gives its word, it keeps it. When the DUP reaches an agreement, it will not only abide by it, but go out and argue for it. An agreement that embraces the DUP is the only one that will bring stability and will last.
In this election, we issued seven tests that must be met before we would endorse the outcome of any negotiations. The very first test requires the deal to have unionist and nationalist support.
We are not seeking a deal that will disadvantage nationalists nor are we seeking any right or benefit for ourselves that we would not willingly extend to you. We only want a fair deal.
Unlike your own politicians, who have electoral reasons for the claims and comments they have made to you on this issue, we have none. This message is unlikely to bring one vote into our tally.
The DUP supports devolution. But not just any kind of devolution and certainly not the version of devolution that Northern Ireland endured during the life of the last assembly.
The structures of devolution – born out of the Belfast Agreement – have failed to provide Northern Ireland with a viable form of self-government.
The DUP has a clear vision of the kind of devolution that Northern Ireland needs and a road map to get there.
The DUP believes that, at its core, any viable form of devolution in Northern Ireland must be stable, accountable, effective and efficient.
The Belfast Agreement clearly did not provide for a stable form of devolution. The four suspensions speak for themselves. In contrast, somewhere like Belfast City Council survived all the turbulence without breaking down.
The reason is simple. A much higher level of trust is necessary in order for the Belfast Agreement structures to work. That level of trust does not presently exist nor could anyone predict when it might do so.
I am not recommending that we replicate the city council structures at Stormont – far from it – I only give the example to emphasise that there are other structures that can better cope with the circumstances we face.
The Belfast Agreement did not provide for accountable devolution. In the last assembly, no minister was accountable to the assembly.
Essentially, as long as decisions did not require legislation, were within the budget and fell within the broad parameters of the Programme for Government, ministers could act as they liked.
Should a minister with a mandate from only 20 per cent of the electorate be able to impose his or her will upon those representing 80 per cent of the people?
The Belfast Agreement does not provide for an effective form of devolution.
The structures do not encourage clear direction. Decision-making was fragmented. The system does not provide collective responsibility nor does it promote collective ownership of decisions.
Vital decisions were hampered due to endless delays, processes and consultations.
The Belfast Agreement did not provide for an efficient form of devolution.
Instead, it established a bloated political bureaucracy that is costing and will continue to cost the NI tax and ratepayer millions of pounds.
Political institutions should be created to provide value for money, not positions for politicians at the cost of funding for frontline services.
A stable, accountable, effective and efficient form of self-government is not some sort of DUP wish list.
It is everyone's entitlement. After election day, the DUP will strive to deliver devolution that works for Northern Ireland.
The politicians who you elect to represent you will have to decide whether they would prefer to hold on to the hollow shell of a failed agreement that will go nowhere and is incapable of providing a basis for stability or whether they accept the electoral realities and recognise the imperative for change.
