As far as I know, no information from the English, Welsh and Sccttish elements of the UK census has been published either. The first was due in August, but I've not seen anything and there have long been rumours that the whole process of data collection was seriously flawed.

Pooka, that analysis is probably dead on. I'm just not absolutely sure about the republic vote first time round. They've been having the time of their lives in recent years, so there will be some reluctance to bring nearly a million belligerent, seige-mentality prods into the equation. They could do as much damage to the republic as the Provos ever did to the north.

Jimmy, I don't doubt a word of your experience. And I agree about Westminster's 50 years of indifference. That was shameful, as was nearly everything to do with the British Empire. But blaming present-day Brits for that is as facile as Brits thinking present-day Germans are Nazis.

Good luck to you in Canada, but what you overlook is that over the years Westminster treated many Brits as badly as it treated people elsewhere in the empire. The Irish have always been entitled to vote in British elections, and their influence along with that of other pissed-off people helped shape British politics for the better. People change. Nations change. But for some reason many diasporic Irish just don't see it.

Your casual acceptance of any mistreatment of prods, on the grounds of what their fathers and grandfathers did, is the kind of negative vibe that feeds conflict. Any demagogue can whip up a mob to that frame of mind, but you should be able to come up with better than that in the cold light of day.

My guess is that the present-day prods will do enough themselves to earn any mistreatment they get. But let's recognise that their crazy (sometimes self-defeating) behaviour is driven by them having their backs against the wall, in the context of the whole island, and knowing this full well. (The idea that any think they have a 3-1 majority in the north is sheer rubbish.)

Once people believe they have nothing left to lose, they are beyond the reach of rational argument. People in the republic could hardly be blamed if they decided to leave those northern prods as someone else's problem. They are a bit closer to the practicalities than those who cherish a homeland that exists only in their dreams.

By the way, northern catholics are now heading to the republic in fistfuls, attracted by the booming economy. And the census is likely to show a declining catholic birthrate as catholics have become better off. You can count on notten, Jimmy! The show ain't over till the fat lady sings.