Professor David Phinnemore:

I will take the issues in the order they were raised, and will deal with the referendum. If we look back to 2015 and 2016, I cannot recall any occasions when serious consideration was given to the context the Good Friday Agreement provided, such that people considered the status of Northern Ireland and the implications for the Good Friday Agreement arising from the referendum result which might mean that the United Kingdom would leave the EU. I do not think it was in anybody's thinking in London. It took the court case in the UK Supreme Court to work out whether consent was actually required. We still have a situation in Scotland where there are questions as to what role the devolved administration should have in this process. I am not too sure how that will pan out. The cynic in me might argue that it is quite useful for the British Government not to have Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive up and functioning because it would add a third devolved entity which may want to bring claims against the British Government on whether Brexit can proceed without formal consultation.

On the citizenship issue, the point made is interesting that the children of non-UK nationals who have moved to Northern Ireland will benefit. There is another category of citizen involved. We also need to recognise that there are UK nationals who have moved to Northern Ireland who cannot avail of the rights provided under the Good Friday Agreement. Their children will be able to take out British or Irish citizenship or both, whereas the parents cannot do so.