On Impeachment, This, Too, Shall Pass, December 19, 2019

The British Foreign Office debated a fantastical idea in the 1980s to address two historic challenges at once.

Hong Kong would revert from British to “Red” Chinese rule in 1997, and its citizens were frantic about what might occur when the communists took control. At the same time, the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland appeared intractable; violence within the six counties disputed between nationalist Republicans who sought a single, unified Ireland, and Ulster Loyalists who swore allegiance to the Crown, was a daily occurrence.

The number of Tanqueray and tonics consumed in devising the plan is unknown, but it must have been considerable, for here was the proposal: Transplant the entire population of Hong Kong — 5.5 million souls at the time — to the north of Ireland to dilute the animus between mostly Catholic Republicans and mostly Protestant Loyalists.

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