Adams is wrong to think we’re closer to his idea of a united Ireland

REUNIFICATION or redundancy? That seems to be the dilemma facing Gerry Adams and the leadership of Sinn Féin. They seem to be on the verge of becoming about as important to the political process down here as, well, the PDs.

That’s an exaggeration, of course. The PDs will almost certainly go out of existence entirely in the near future. My guess is that before the next election, the next leader of Fianna Fáil, assuming it is Brian Cowen, will quietly reabsorb the last two PD deputies into his party. And that will be the end of that.

Sinn Féin, on the other hand, will be around for a long time. But it’s not that long ago since most political pundits assumed Sinn Féin would be making their way into the government of the Republic in pretty short order, and would achieve their great strategic ambition of being the only party on the island to hold power in both jurisdictions at the same time.