O’Neill planned to turn it into the seventh county of Northern Ireland. Two days later I had maps, a rough plot, character outlines and the daunting realisation that I was embarking something more complex than a regular alternative history. In Northern Ireland, where there’s no such thing as uncontested fact, this would be a slippery process, akin to pinning down a Lough Neagh eel. The idea of an alternative history explored on a smaller, perhaps more domestic stage, felt less overwhelming. On Mainland Northern Ireland, the conflict plays out according to the history books.