US presidential race - How can toxic tide be turned?

The US population stands at around 320m, exactly half that of the EU, but it is uncertain whether that figure includes the millions Donald Trump would deport if he were elected.

The US has long been regarded as the land of opportunity, a belief confirmed by the millions who are happy, at least one day of the year, to call themselves American-Irish.

The majority of these people enjoy success they could hardly have dreamt of in this country. Most were able to give their children opportunities almost unheard of in the Old Sod.

That comforting description — the land of opportunity — is one of those wonderful phrases that infers challenge as well as reassurance but it needs to be reconsidered on one plane at least.

The weekend withdrawal from the White House race by Jeb Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, leaves the way clear for a volatile, unproven billionaire and the unrelentingly, almost incomprehensibly ambitious wife of a former president.

Mr Trump romped to victory in South Carolina, the third nominating contest of the race, on 32% and Hillary Clinton — 53% — won the Democratic strand.

The US regards itself as an exemplary democracy and Barack Obama’s election seemed to confirm that. But today’s dominance of silver-spoon candidates suggests the US is moving towards something like dynastic monarchies of the Old World.

Meritocracy is being challenged, as it always will be, by privilege and elitism. But how to turn this toxic tide?