Sorry for history overload Ma’am, we’re good at it... the present is the problem

THE old dear must have wondered if there had been a mix-up in scheduling.

Was she visiting her nearest neighbour, or some developing country with the arse out of its trousers? She touched down just after midday in Casement Aerodrome, bookending 800 years of fear and loathing.

But where were the cheering crowds? As she stepped down from the plane, there was nobody there to greet her but a gaggle of uniforms and Eamon Gilmore. Nobody waving little Union Jack flags. Not even Eamon Gilmore. No ranks of adoring public. No clapping or cheering. The silence spoke of the centuries and the small band who are still counting out the years.