Today, after a talk to the East Down Yacht Club's annual Members' Lunch, which I enjoyed because they were all so pleasant, someone asked a question I always have trouble answering, tending to avoid the area if possible: 'Have you ever considered going into politics?'
I said (talking about my father, NI's last PM), 'Well, it would be a tough act to follow', which is the literal truth; and then went into abstract notions about inclusiveness in Northern Ireland politics; how much, towards the end of his career, my father invested in that ideal; and how, twenty-five years on, the foundations of the current period of relative stability are actually foundations upon foundations.
They say you should avoid politics and religion. In Northern Ireland, that leaves the weather..
