DO the British care about the North? Not a great deal, it seems, especially when there is an election in the offing. The attention given to what is our greatest concern is illustrated by the way Northern Ireland barely figures on the agendas of the two big party conferences which start this weekend - Labour meets in Blackpool tomorrow and the Tories will gather in Bournemouth the following week.
The North is not expected to figure prominently at either conference. The Labour executive meets tomorrow night to decide its agenda and although several motions have been tabled, Northern Ireland is not expected to make the list. The Tories have planned a major debate on the Union but the chief speakers will be the Scottish and Welsh secretaries Michael Forsyth and William Hague. Northern Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew is not mentioned and that says everything. It will be about devolution. The party chairman, Ulsterman Brian Mawhinney, will address the conference live on TV on Our Nation's Future. Will the North be mentioned? Many think not.
Some fringe meetings - of which several are planned, including one organised by Labour spokeswoman Mo Mowlam and former spokesman Kevin McNamara - will address the North. But if it is mentioned at plenary session at all, it is likely to come up as part of a security and terrorism debate.
It was not always thus. Now both parties are weary of the North. There are no votes in it. John Major feels, with justification, that he has done more than others towards finding peace. Tony Blair is poleaxed by the fear that everything and anything could upset his poll lead and leave the Conservatives in power for 22 years. The British voters don't care what his policy on the North is so he's better off not articulating one.
The best, if not only, hope for the North is a strong British government - that means a majority of nearly 40, probably Conservative, coming to power this spring.