Party merger moves have one thing in common — keep Sinn Féin out

IN THE concluding sentence of his magisterial new history of Ireland from the French revolution to the present day, Professor Paul Bew wonders if, “as ethnic rage gives way to ethnic vanity, is it really possible that the enmities of Irish history are losing their power to hurt and destroy”?

Have we indeed found some reasonably happy — and lasting — equilibrium between the claims of Orange and Green? All sane people would sincerely hope so.

We have indeed arrived at a fortuitous point in our history. The Troubles took a long time to fizzle out and there are still groups out there with murderous intent, but the situation is calmer in the North than at any time in the past 40 years or so. (Let’s not forget that the first deaths were at the hands of the UVF as far back as 1966.)