Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Murphy's presentation was very interesting. If I am reading her correctly, without an Executive and agreement in the North, the people in the North do not count as regards Britain. Theresa May and her Government do not seem to have any great concern for them. Negotiations with the EU will be from London. None of us knows at this stage, but we are all hopeful of course that as Senator Black has said, they will be realistic and should be able to put an Executive together. The jury is out on that and probably will be out for another while. However, without that, things are bleak.

I know the customs union and the Border will be matters for negotiation. While we got on very well with Michel Barnier and we noted that the EU has Ireland's position very much in mind, I somehow feel that when it gets down to brass tacks in the negotiations, none of us can say with any certainty how this will unfold for us in practice. Of course, we hope there will be no return to the past as regards border controls and so on. While I acknowledge it is an impossible thing to ask of Dr. Murphy, how does she believe this will unfold when it gets down to the detail in negotiations?