Last week, transport ministers from Britain, Ireland and Northern Ireland met at Stormont to make a joint declaration on banned drivers.

The three ministers were proud to tell us that from next year (probably), a driving ban in one of the three jurisdictions will apply equally in the other two. This is very good news, especially for motorists and pedestrians in border areas where lunatics can currently continue to drive with impunity on the other side of the border.

Apparently it will be many years however before a mutual penalty points system will come into operation but at least it's a start. This positive piece of road safety news also highlights another burning issue. Surely it is now time for Ireland to rejoin the United Kingdom. Like a universal penalty points system, it will take time to achieve but it is surely time now to at least make a start.

Perhaps rejoining the Commonwealth first could be used as a stepping-stone to a new union in these islands, a bit like the banned driver legislation between the three jurisdictions. The truth is that Ireland seems to be inching ever closer to a cultural and political union with our former oppressor so why not make it official?

Any dog in the street could have told the politicians that Ireland was going to vote no in the recent Lisbon referendum but they seemed so shocked. We should just do away with them altogether as they are so clearly out of touch with the Irish public. Better we are governed from Westminster altogether.

Of course motoring is one area where the union makes perfect sense, we both already drive on the left unlike those Johnny foreigners in Euroland and lets be honest, we prefer miles per hour to kilometres. A new union would do away with all that cross-border fuel smuggling and would bring the overpriced cost of cars here down to UK levels.

Mary Harney once famously said that we are closer to Boston than Berlin, but she was wrong. We are actually much close to Birmingham, Bolton and Basildon.

The Lisbon vote proclaimed loudly that Ireland wants to come home to the union. The Irish media seemed to be completely wrong footed by the vote just like our politicians, so lets just get rid of them as well. It was the good old Sun and Daily Mail, always champions of Irish interests that got it right and the huge increase in their popularity here goes to show that we are indeed ready for change.

For a long time there have been calls among republicans of all hues here for the eventual reunification of Ireland. In practical terms, lets be honest, it's unlikely to happen but a reunification with Britain, that looks increasingly like a winner. The unionists in the north will be delighted and as part of a new, enlarged United Kingdom we can all jump ship from the EU together. For motorists it will mean we wont have any more pesky EU emissions targets and safety legislation to deal with and we won't be encumbered with a joint energy policy.