Though the current unemployment rate as of November 2011 for age 55 and over is 6.4% and for men a bit higher at 6.8%, this may be artificially low since many pre-retirees may have simply given up and stopped looking for jobs like my friend Harry.

FORBES: Unemployed at 62: Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Recovery may be driven by something that most have almost given up for lost.

ECONOMIST: The economy

If Mr Adams is thought to have given up too much, there may be a much larger exodus of his supporters to such extreme groups.

ECONOMIST: Northern Ireland