Dr. Anthony Soares:

That is if the Northern Ireland Executive and political parties in Northern Ireland are willing to use or exploit that opportunity. The opportunity will be there. The Irish Government will be present at both the North-South Ministerial Council and within the European Union as a member state. It could possibly listen to the concerns of the Northern Ireland Executive and political representatives within Northern Ireland about EU policy matters. The question is whether the Northern side will want to explore that opportunity and whether the Irish Government is prepared to take on that responsibility. I hope it would be in a position to do that.