World: TROUBLE IN THE LAND OF ORANGE

IF politics in Northern Ireland has a quaintly archaic tone, it is probably because the issues have not changed much since 1690. In that year, the English armies of William of Orange trounced the Irish Catholic troops of James II on the banks of the Boyne River and established Protestant ascendancy over all Ireland, including the six counties that constitute Ulster. Ever since—and particularly after Southern Ireland went its Catholic way—Ulster's leaders have been preoccupied with safeguarding the Christian Reformation. William's picture is still painted on the red brick wall of many a...