Dr. Claire Mitchell:

There are definitely different types of groups who are unity curious at the moment. Those from a Protestant background like mine who would say in a survey that they would vote for Irish unity tomorrow account for approximately 4% in surveys usually. That really is quite a small group. Beyond that, you are looking at unity curious, then indifferent and then it ripples out. For me, there are three tasks. One relates to people who are interested in getting a tick in the Border poll. Then there is a second job of just creating a sense of psychological safety for unionists and loyalists more generally so that the fear is taken out of reunification. That may never turn into votes but it would turn into a changed society.

Certainly, where I live, the task is doing anything we can to create that safety in order to avoid violence. For me, it is not just about the poll itself.

Regarding how to engage people, Ireland's Future has been fabulous with the big events, the road show and establishing itself as a very credible actor, also in respect of the research behind the scenes even on things like pensions. If you read the Ireland's Future documents, they are really detailed. The lack of an offer is a big barrier for the unity-curious at the moment. I appreciate the difficulty in defining an offer in a rapidly evolving political context but if somebody asked me to go out and persuade persuadables, I do not feel I have the tools to do that at the moment.

In terms of getting women to participate in the event, looking at the work of Professor Jennifer Todd, Dr. Joanne McEvoy and Professor Fidelma Ashe is the way to go because they are not talking about the big scary meetings where your face might be in the newspaper and you are wondering whether your kids are safe and all of that. They are talking about going to where people are and creating safe spaces with neutral facilitators. Very quickly then, they are finding that people are coming around to Sláintecare, childcare and women's issues. It is so important to get that kind of contribution because if we do it all in forums that are official and large, then we are going to hear advocacy for a certain type of unity and not the one which women might necessarily ask for.