Book Review

Can Ireland be One?: Whimsical, but thoughtful look at the question of a united Ireland

Journalist Malachi O’Doherty will probably annoy his critics even more with this spiky polemic that questions whether a united Ireland is inevitable, practical or even desirable

Mural in Belfast calling for unity: In his new book, Malachi O’Doherty wonders what could hold a united Ireland together. Picture: Getty

Malachi O’Doherty has a habit of irritating Irish republicans. He was once pinned up against the wall of a west Belfast social club by Bobby Storey, the IRA leader whose funeral caused such controversy by breaking Covid restrictions in 2020. “I am not going to hit you,” Storey told him. “But I want you to know that you are a slug.”

In the eyes of people like Storey, O’Doherty’s crime was obvious. The veteran journalist ...