The impact of what have become known as culture wars across our society has been increasingly evident for some time, and there is every prospect that this process will escalate in the approach to next year’s Assembly elections.

It is depressing that those who are who are fundamentally opposed to cooperation between the two traditions are again gaining in prominence, although we are far removed from the phase less than a half a century ago when they were the controlling political force here, and held 10 of the then 12 Westminster seats at a stage when there was no Stormont.

Their numbers have faded steadily since then, but they have never completely disappeared, and their influence is being felt again primarily via the Traditional Unionist Voice, and some sections of both the DUP and the Ulster Unionists.

An online intervention from Tim Cairns, the former DUP special advisor who is a regular contributor to BBC programmes and one of the presenters of the high-profile Stormont Sources podcast, merits attention as it sums up much of the wider debate.

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Cairns responded to the departure of the News Letter editor Ben Lowry – to whom I send........

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