Dr. Jonny Byrne:

It feels a bit like that, or one of those flight paths around JFK airport that one cannot get off.

I will go through the committee members' questions backwards. The British system was raised. Very briefly, when the Westminster elections were taking place last year, RTÉ asked me what I thought would happen after the exit poll. I said that the Conservative Party would be mad to go into partnership with the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP. RTÉ has not asked me back on ever since. Speaking personally for our own situation, I think there is a direct relationship there. Every decision and every statement has to be read in light of other parties' position and the implications it has for Northern Ireland. I think that will just keep going. The current relationship in the Government will continue post-Brexit, because I think they are too scared of the unknown, that is, what would happen if they brought it down. In my own personal opinion that Government will be in place after Brexit, because the unknowns concerning what would happen represent too much of a risk for those involved. There is a knock-on effect on Northern Ireland and the paralysis that exists there. People start second-guessing policy conversations and decisions, and the implications of the actions of others for them, potentially or otherwise.

I cannot really comment on the Northern Ireland Prison Service. I would be more comfortable talking about policing in general. I note that prisons did not have a process like the Patten commission. They did not have everything that went along with the architecture of policing. I think that was a flaw, on reflection. That is something that should have been addressed. That applies to prison wings, segregated status and what we have there now. The culture is something that needs to be addressed. Prior to the collapse of Stormont, that was ongoing within the justice Department, and I think it needs to be revisited.