Discussing Irish reunification - A 32-county state is a very long way off

THE stars have aligned to facilitate a new round of discussion around the possibility of Irish reunification; the possibility that, at last, the four green fields might be as one.

The legitimacy of that aspiration is matched by its capacity to frighten the horses, to harden attitudes and deepen division rather than bridge it.

Nevertheless, the discussion can’t be avoided. Demographics and democracy make huge decisions inevitable sooner or later.