Ah, partition. Don't you just love the confusion it causes?

We were doing so well with all that lovey-dovey peace process chat. There's everyone talking about the “island of Ireland” and the Republic's government setting aside tens of millions of euros to improve the roads in the fourth green field.

Then the economic downturn goes and spoils everything and sets the economic cats amongst the financial pigeons.

Now some politicians in the Republic are urging the shoppers not to cross the big, bad border but to spend their euros at home where they are needed. Indeed, the cajoling has gotten so bad that the owner of the Quay's Shopping Centre in Newry, Gerard O'Hare, has spoken out saying that it was not unpatriotic for southerners to shop in the north and that such suggestions were offensive and should be withdrawn. (He's right too, by the way.)

Of course, what southern politicians don't realise is that, ahem, you can't eat a flag and that it is economic necessity that sends people across the border. (And those same politicians did not seem to mind the traffic when it was the other way with people from the north buying petrol and diesel in the Republic or paying over the odds for holiday homes.)

Still, the irony is wonderful. The pro-business and anti-southern DUP and the anti-business and pro-unification Sinn Féin have to work together to take advantage of this little window of retail opportunity and, in doing so, undermine everything they stand for.

The DUP must attract southerners to shop in the North and, by doing so, actually be nice to people they traditionally distrusted. That will result in southerners, the vast majority of whom have never been further north than Dundalk, visiting and perhaps returning, thus re-uniting the people of Ireland in a way Sinn Féin never could and the DUP never wanted.

On the other hand, Sinn Féin's encouragement of cross-border trade actually underpins partition by making the local, sterling-based economy sustainable and raises all those questions again as to how much better off people might be under which flag — though, don't forget, you can't eat it. Of course, I suspect the opportunities that are on offer will be beyond the moderate capability of our two biggest parties. They are handy enough at putting out the begging bowl to the likes of Gordon Brown — but that just makes them a better-dressed version of a street beggar. (Though, to give beggars their due, none of them are as persistent in their begging as our beloved First Minister and his Deputy.)

Still, there's a few bob to be made and if I were in the Executive, the first thing I would do would be to put a map of every shopping centre of note in the north into the Republic's national and local papers.

If people are happy to come to border towns and Belfast to shop, then there is absolutely no reason why they should not be enticed to Banbridge's Outlet centre, (above) Craigavon's Rushmere or Antrim's Junction One. (Not so much a road map to peace as a road map to prices.)

Retail will not be enough to keep Northern Ireland afloat in the long term. In the short term, however, some money is better than no money and the Executive should be helping local businesses hoover up the euros. Trade missions abroad are all very well but traffic maps to the Republic might be more profitable in the immediate future.