Mr. John Sheridan:

Deputy O'Dowd mentioned Irexit earlier on. Europe has to be conscious of the word "Irexit". We do not have to be subservient to Westminster or Whitehall, nor do we necessarily have to be subservient to those running the EU. They must understand we are in a difficult place. There is an onus on them to act responsibly, as there is on politicians in this country. I know many Unionists who wanted to remain. This goes back to the caution and dominance, again, of Irish politics in the North. Everything gets politicised. Brexit is becoming politicised, and that is very unfortunate, and damning for local communities, especially Border communities. Every one of us is living in communities along the Border. I have to make a passionate plea that Brexit is not politicised. There has to be some responsibility. We have watched the city of Aleppo disappear in months. People on the ground are passionate and do not want to be walked over. They want their voices heard, and papering over the cracks does nothing for local communities.

I suppose everything becomes orange and green, so if people believe they are born under a certain flag, then that is how they should vote, be it on Brexit or something else. They will shoot themselves in the foot because of blind faith, which is terrible. We have got to rise above that. Numerous people have said to me that they have never seen the two communities so polarised, and this after 20 years of peace. There is a responsibility on the leaders from every political party on this Ireland to act responsibly and to listen to the people on the ground, otherwise we are on a slow road to hell.