Guests - good points both, the secular and the sacred. I must agree. Thank you.

Guestguest: that would be the unlikely sea-change in the voting patterns. Could happen. The deal (if any) offered by the Republic would be an important factor too. Maybe the 26 Counties won't want 'em after all. There are economics involved here. (Hey! What if the Orangemen get so damn mad at perfidious Albion that they vote for Dublin!)

Guestwithnobias: Amen. With the footnote that the killing *nowadays* seems done not really in the holy *cause* of the true religion, but just under denominational headings for convenience. Shorthand. At the Battle of the Boyne, they believed in the stuff. I guess. Not that there weren't economics involved there, too. But you're right, killing is killing. Down the long ladder and let's cut the rope, *enough* with King Billy and likewise the Pope, sez I.