Prime minister Boris Johnston: Fantasists are running out of road

In the old gods’ time, be they Celt or Pict, had an Irishman won the British Open at the start of the most important week in Anglo-Irish relations since the Good Friday Agreement was settled, it would have been seen as a portentous nudge that could hardly be ignored without risking heaven’s wrath.

That Shane Lowry’s magnificent, uplifting achievement was realised on the part of this island where Celt and Pict live cheek-by-jowl seems, even if in a Game of Thrones sort of way, important too. It was a magnificent expression of our commonality, of our, generally, shared views and mutual respect.