They may have had strong bonds to the land, but Irish peasants were among the most inefficient farmers in Europe.

John Donne's 'A Valediction: forbidding mourning' concerns a sea voyage, and uses the image of a circle as an antidote to the abyss of loss and separation. He pictures the invisible but precious bonds which link carer and cared-for, lover and beloved in an attachment relationship as slender threads of gold.

Sinn Fein has milked naive Irish Americans for too long.

It was only if that package (the Anglo-Irish proposals) succeeded in providing movement from the republicans and nationalists that the situation would arise. We have seen a step by republicans, but of course it falls far short of what we need which is to see the decommissioning actually begin.

You wouldn't want to land on the Moon and launch to Mars. That would be very inefficient.

We'll have to be tough in Dublin. We'll need to have a strong physical presence because the Irish are going to come at us hard. But we're more than capable.