Professor Brian MacCraith:

We support the call for a designated special status from the North-South and east-west or UK perspectives because, as Senator Ruane and others mentioned, people move in both directions. It is difficult to predict how Brexit will pan out. We would support having minimum perturbation about the situation.

I shall make a final point on the notion of providing a large financial injection in order to grasp opportunities generated by Brexit. The last time this happened in Ireland was during the 1999-2000 period. A research programme was introduced in third level institutions that was funded by a combination of money provided by Chuck Feeney's Atlantic Philanthropies and a matching amount from the State. Before the programme started, Ireland was ranked below Bangladesh in global ratings for science research. Ireland is now consistently ranked in the top 12 in the world and we are in the top five in a number of key areas. This success was generated by a recognition that we had a massive infrastructural deficit. There was a competitive process and Irish universities were encouraged to work together to put a programme in place. The research programme is an example of the impact an injection of funding can have on a system. The establishment of a research programme propelled Ireland from nowhere - from league division three to the premier league. The combination of that with what Science Foundation Ireland has done with human capital is what turned the country around. All of that to which I refer is ageing and further investment in it has not been forthcoming. Brexit will provide us with a massive second opportunity and a similar scale of investment will again be required.