Donald Trump’s musings on Irish unity produced surprisingly little reaction. Political analysis is not seen as one of his strong points. And many people share his feeling that unity makes sense one day, without much idea of how to get there or much sense of urgency.

One of the more memorable responses came from Clare Hanna, the leader of the nationalist SDLP, speaking at her party conference within minutes of Mr Trump’s remark and commenting: “He’s not as orange as he looks.”

Sinn Féin, in Dublin, made more of the presidential remarks, and this did produce a more interesting political moment. Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach, was challenged as to why he was not doing more to promote a united Ireland when even Mr Trump seemed keen on it. He said he would take no lessons from Sinn Féin on Irish unity when their IRA colleagues’ campaign of violence had done more than anything else to divide people on the island.

He went on to note that the British and Irish governments have had inquiries into events where security forces were, or were believed to have been, at fault, “but others have not come to the table in terms of atoning and saying what they did was wrong”. Sinn Féin is among the most demanding advocates of uncovering deaths during the Northern Ireland Troubles through state action or inaction. The Taoiseach is right. The Bloody Sunday Inquiry alone cost around £270 million and is widely regarded as having established the truth as far as can be done. Many other inquiries have done similar work and others continue right up to today. The inquiry into the Omagh bombing in 1998, which killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, began public hearings on 21 September.

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