Anything is possible but the violence first has to stop

A long time ago I happened to be in a pub somewhere in the depths of rural Ireland. Over Guinness the conversation with my hosts flowed in and out of Irish history. Given that my grandmother was herself a product of the Irish diaspora, I appreciate the Irish struggle, though I am that species that they and I would call 'a Brit.'

As this was the time of what were termed with characteristic Irish understatement 'the Troubles' - the vicious violence in the North of Ireland - we talked o...