The plan couldn’t have been simpler and in the event, the great care home escape was executed with aplomb: Mrs Davison in the front seat of our car with my wife Fionnuala driving, and me and her neighbour Genghis in the back.

Fionnuala filled her in on the rota drawn up by Genghis that included some neighbours and ourselves.

Yes, everyone was delighted to be helping out; no, it was no trouble at all; yes, you can pay for whatever groceries or whatever is needed; no, the care home was perfectly fine with her suddenly going home.

Mrs Davison seemed to settle and as we carefully got her into the house, she smiled at how gleaming everything was, and we all sat down for a lovely, well-earned cup of tea. And no-one mentioned the elephant who was not in the room.

David Adams: I’m a former loyalist who supports a ‘New Ireland’, but why won’t anyone tell me what it will be like?

I had given the framed photos of her only son David – whom nobody had........

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