When there was talk of a possible deal between the major players in this sad political world in which we live many of those of a Unionist bent felt that this was the first step on the long march to a united Ireland.

By a slow process of osmosis we would all end up being southerners, opening parks and swinging swings on a Sunday, taking part in Sunday sports, eating Pat the Baker's bread and generally behaving like good catholics.

How wrong could they be? There was no need for any concern. Instead of the slow march of republicanism it seems the south has, in fact, taken a leaf out of the great unionist canon and discovered the ability to say No, Non, Nein, Nee, Nie! Forget about all the rumpus concerning the politics of the vote, this is the most worrying development for those of us with a widened vocabulary.

Like many I can remember the time when the Irish would have said yes right away. Yes to all those European grants that fuelled the so-called Celtic Tiger, yes to all the immigrants from Europe that undertook all the jobs the Irish didn't want to do, yes to all the countries in the world that welcomed the Irish as emigrants and, for Heaven's sake, even yes to Riverdance. And just because Dustin fails to win the Eurovision Song Contest we throw the dummy out of the pram and leave the rest of Europe in crisis.

Was I dreaming it or was there outrage when a certain recently retired Unionist leader welcomed the prospect of change not only with a no but with a rallying cry of Never, Never, Never? The sad wee north was then festooned with banners proclaiming that Ulster says No and now somewhere in a small room scaremongering conservative fools who think Ireland is flat and that they will fall off if they go too close to the edge of the shore are busily painting out the Ulster on these banners to replace it with Ireland.

It makes one wonder if there is some psychological reason why some people say yes and others no. Did the yeasayers have parents who encouraged risk and adventure with an affirmative while the naysayers had parents who told them it was never possible and to stay behind the line in case you get hurt!

A couple of weeks ago at the opening of the final year exhibition in the university at Magee the visiting dignitary told the students that he had built up a multi-million pound business in eleven years by following the simple maxim of always saying yes. And can it be a coincidence that in the honours list of last Saturday the same individual receives an OBE for services to media and the creative industries? (I know an honour is something we might say no to but don't complicate things just at the minute.)

This no business is particularly frustrating if one considers all the things we ought to think twice about agreeing to and never do. In no particular order: do you take this man or woman to be your lawfully wedded spouse?; will we buy a house?; can we afford a second holiday this year?; do you think its time we had a new kitchen?; does my bum look big in this? (The last should probably always be a no but I'm getting confused now.)

And conversely what about all the tings we never say no to, like taking out another loan for that toy you know you really need or the extra piece of cake that is going to mean you will never fit into that tee-shirt ever again or the one last drink that you know is going to ensure that you will not be spoken to at home for the next three months.

With all this talk of new skills for young people surely we ought to be introducing a course in how to say yes. It could be taught by people who have been converted from no to yes and who have benefited from this new-found agreeability. And examples could be shown of those who have found themselves out in the proverbial cold because they couldn't get their tongues around those three little liberating letters. Examples of each are legion in this small fiefdom.

Finally in order that some practice can be had in saying yes here is a list of questions for which the answers are all in the affirmative. Are we the laughing stock of Europe; is it time we looked less parochial; is it time we entered the 21st century?

Unfortunately it may also be true that the answer to the important question of will we ever learn may still, for some time, be a resounding, no, no , no!