During her inauguration speech last week, the new Uachtarán na hÉireann, Catherine Connolly, appropriately referenced Article 3 of the Irish Constitution and its explicit commitment on behalf of the Irish people to work towards a united Ireland, consistent with the principle of consent as enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement.

As conversations continue and indeed expand on the prospect of Irish unification, it has become obvious that we need a cold, hard public discussion on how media framing, north and south, continues to betray a residual bias in favour of the unionist position, in spite of the change that has dropped slowly yet decisively over the past 30 years.

As I outlined in my last column, it is apparent in the manner in which the permanent veto against a Catholic ever becoming the British head of state is not deemed an issue worthy of discussion – and certainly of no significance regarding the constitutional position – yet sectarian comments attributed to online trolls during the Irish presidential campaign were elevated to a matter which allegedly indicated how unionists would not be welcome in a united Ireland.

At no point during coverage of the decision by the DUP to not attend the presidential inauguration in Dublin were senior DUP politicians challenged about what message their non-attendance sent to ordinary nationalists regarding respect for their identity and community whilst continuing to live in the United Kingdom today.

Aoife Moore: If the immigration system isn’t working, Mr Harris, whose fault is that?