Ah, fair enough, I'll keep that in mind. It's interesting to see how little we can know of one another even in a situation between staunch allies. It only goes to highlight how little we must know about those who aren't.
I do think you're right to a certain extent about anti-american sentiment selling. It's not that we dislike America as a country, but I think a lot of people get a kick out of hearing about "America's latest failure", which probably gets focused on far more than it should be. We would rarely hear about "America's latest achievement" in contrast, but that said, finding anything cheerful on Irish news is a challenge, they're generally too busy giving out about our own government...
Regarding the anti-unification sentiment, to be honest, I don't blame anyone who feels that way. Given your explanation of how different the people in different states are, it'd be a disaster to try and unify that any further than it already is. The fact that the States are so often split almost perfectly over Conservative/Democrat (do correct me if I'm wrong here btw), and that most States seem to have a side that they will always vote for just emphasises that "two camps" or hell, 50 camps, mentality.
Besides, if there's one thing I know, it's that one should be proud of local culture and identity. I'd hate to see Europe amalgamated into one big European States, because I'd fear that we'd all lose our separate identities in the process.
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"I found it eventually, at the bottom of a locker in a disused laboratory, with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard". Ever thought of going into Advertising?"
- Arthur Dent
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