Of course, not everything in the garden is rosy. Communications between north and south are good - the trip from Belfast to Dublin takes only two hours or so by road and there are trains every half hour - and the Republic has become an economic powerhouse in recent years. Blue chip names which have invested south of the border include Microsoft, Google and Dell, and the Dublin government provides incentives such as a low rate of corporation tax, which the north, with tax rates set by the UK Treasury, simply cannot match. The Republic is also in the Eurozone which is seen by inward investors as a distinct advantage, not least because it virtually eliminates transaction costs.

Faced with these challenges, Northern Ireland has become more determined to succeed. There is better co-operation between north and south now, particularly in areas such as technology and tourism and pragmatism sometimes dictates an all-Ireland approach is most appropriate.

The island of Ireland has tended to be perceived, like Scotland, as peripheral to Europe. It’s an unfair perception since there are good air connections from Belfast and Dublin plus of course frequent ferry connections across the Channel and to the UK mainland. Destinations throughout Europe and direct flights to the States make Ireland no more difficult than anywhere in the UK to travel to and from.