I don’t pretend to know enough about politics across the border to know why exactly Sinn Féin had such a disappointing result in the local government and European elections, but it has never felt like the same party north and south.

Up here, people vote for Sinn Féin for a variety of reasons. Despite what some unionists would have you believe, it is not an endorsement of the IRA campaign of violence, since the party’s vote only increased after that ended.

And while there is a clear reluctance by senior party figures to disown what went before – as evidenced by their continuing attendance at memorials to dead combatants – most younger voters see Sinn Féin as a more full-blooded supporter of a united Ireland.

That’s debatable. For every person who believes the republican movement held the southern government’s feet to the fire, forcing them to be at least more vocal about Irish unity, there are many others who believe support for the idea was badly damaged by 30 years of violence.

Mary Kelly: Sinn Féin election inquest would make fascinating reading

Brónagh Diamond: Here’s to the dads, the stepdads and everything in between

In the north, Sinn Féin have built themselves into an impressive political machine which has........

© The Irish News