To the guest who said McGuiness doesn't make statements like that solely for the benefit of the folks in Ardoyne, I think you'll find that he sometimes does. His remarks on this occasion were entirely to appease his own potential supporters, with an eye to a forthcoming statement on further decommissioning. (I make no criticism of him for doing that.)

Big Tim - first class points. My only argument with your post is about those potholes! They still signal when you've crossed the border, but now it's the other way round. Cash has been poured into the republic's infrastructure while the UK has ben underinvesting (against European norms) for 30 years. If you ride a motorbike, believe me, the difference is noticeable.

Blackcatter, any regime can afford to be relaxed about a minority of three per cent. The minority in the north (catholics) started out at more than 30 per cent and has been rising ever since. Put yourself in the protestant mindset, and that's quite a threat. And history has shown us how the protestants reacted to that perceived threat.

Equally if you remove the border, Ireland suddenly has a protestant minority of nearly one in four, and a significant element of that minority would be coming into the equation recklessly belligerent from the outset.

The republic's economy is rocking. Why would they want to spoil it with all the mayhem of private armies and intransigent Orangeism that comes with the north? That's why SF will not be giving high priority to a united Ireland in their campaigning south of the border.

My feeling is that the less it's sought, the more likely reunification will be. And I certainly don't rule it out by 2016. But if it doesn't happen, it's no big deal. My real dream is that petty nationalism - British, American, Irish and the rest - will be a thing of the past by then.