Dr. Conor Patterson:

We had a conversation with MPs - which we discussed earlier - in the House of Commons and we gave evidence. I suggested that if some in Northern Ireland, because of their political perspectives, were uncomfortable with collaborating on an all-island basis, they could at least encourage cross-sectoral collaboration within Northern Ireland. I was given short shrift in that regard. It is always good to collaborate. We, for example, have strong links with peer organisations in the Republic, namely, the chambers of commerce - for example, the British-Irish, Dundalk and Drogheda chambers. We work closely with all those organisations. The bigger challenge for us is having the conversations that need to be had within Northern Ireland. We made the point that Dr. Alasdair McDonnell and I spoke to parliamentarians at the French National Assembly and our problem was what is the Northern Ireland plc proposition because it is not coherent. We have people within business and within other stakeholder organisations who, frankly, are uneasy about asserting their position on Brexit because it has become so politicised because it has become tainted and mixed up with the issue of national identity. One view is that this asserts UK sovereignty more strongly than has been the case in the past 20 years. There is another perspective that this threatens Irish identity and parity of esteem. Deputy Brendan Smith, with his experience in public service and as a Minister, will understand how toxic all of that is. For us, the challenge is as much to encourage dialogue within Northern Ireland and encourage those who are decision-makers in Northern Ireland to facilitate the sort of forum discussions that were put in place by the Taoiseach that envisage in the next round the discussions will be sectoral and all-island, and some of the meetings might actually take place within Northern Ireland. There is always more that could be done but, certainly, there has been leadership shown here in Dublin on our behalf. The Irish Government in Dublin is a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and it is important that that is understood.

In terms of collaboration, those of us who can speak more freely who are not members of the public service would say that the all-island bodies have been constrained in what they could do. Those politically who were lacking in enthusiasm for the all-island proposition, the concern is, as we have moved through this Brexit debate, are, if anything, much more hawkish and we are currently in a position where there is less collaboration rather than more. That is something all of us, for example, those within influence within this committee, need to address because this has implications for the whole island.