LET us start with the details we would all want to know first.

If Westminster introduced proportional representation, it would be bad news for the DUP and Sinn Féin and good news for most other parties.

Based on the results of the last general election, Sinn Féin would drop from seven seats to five, and the DUP from five to four.

Alliance would rise from one seat to three, and the UUP from one to two.

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The SDLP would stay at two and the TUV at one, but they would hold these seats more securely, thanks to garnering votes across the region rather than having to depend on a handful of strongholds.

How the independent unionist seat in north Down fits into his is an interesting question we will get to later.

The above scenario assumes a perfectly representative system that treats Northern Ireland as a single unit.

If our boundaries were redrawn into three or four multi-seat constituencies, similar to how PR works in the Republic, the DUP and Sinn Féin might do a bit better due to the concentration of their supporters on either side of the Bann.

The possibility of Westminster introducing PR is worth contemplating, because Andy Burnham has vowed to put it in the next Labour manifesto if he becomes prime minister.

That would........

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