What is 'touching distance?'...it's just more political soundbites to distance from the extremists who will point to SF administering British rule in Ireland.
On the otherhand, it is good that the largest Republican party on the island is now wedded to the democratic path as per the GFA.
I think a UI is closer now in my lifetime than it has ever been. But a UI in the perceived sense of plebiscite on both sides of the invisible border is still a long, way away.
By a UI, I mean the breaking down of traditional stereotypes. Protestant Northerners looking South to do business, travel, ditto Southern nationalists.
I was in Portrush, Giants causeway for the first time in my life two years ago. The amount of southern reg cars was telling.
My niece's boyfriend in college is a Protestant from Portadown with a family with a staunch Unionist standing in his home community.
The times-they-are-changin'