So for those of us who aren't Irish, what exactly is the DUP and why are they bad?
Democratic Unionist Party. They support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom and more conservative policies, e.g. the welfare reform issue that set off the current crisis before former PIRA members were killed. They're not bad, but they're using the IRA killings as ammunition against Sinn Fein and not accepting anything short of Sinn Fein going "Yeah, the IRA are still armed and active" as a good enough answer.
i misread the title as "stormfront". please tell me that wasn't prophetic in any way.
You're not the only one.
I can see where the confusion comes from, but Stormont is basically the equivalent to Washington in Northern Ireland.