Yes a united Ireland would be nice. However I would not like to live in a country where the church is as pepredominant a force as it is in the republic - so how can I demand that northern protestants buckle down to live under such a regime.

As far as I can make out the English ruling class behaved reprehensibly for several centuries in Ireland (as they did most other places) and there are places in Ireland where they hate the English with a passion. Naturally once or twice along the way the Irish have sided with some of our adversaries.

Most fair minded will think this is regrettable but entirely understandable. And to be fair my grandfather and father fought alongside Irishmen in the boer war, WW1 and WW2. Plus the Irish have made many contributions to our society and culture. So more pluses than minuses.

I really think it is time to move on from all this sterile finger pointing and fault finding and find some decent solution where we can all be friends.