Mr. Chris Hazzard:

I thank Dr. Byrne. Some of what he has said is quite thought-provoking. I take on board some of the commentary on the Taoiseach's visit to the North, and the number of times the Taoiseach has been in the North, the quality of his visits and the events he has attended, although I would prefer if he had gone to Drumaness rather than Mayobridge but we will leave that there. There is no doubt this is positive, especially in the wider nationalist and republican community in the North, and they deeply appreciate the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and an Irish Government which is very much interested in the citizens of the North and the issues that pertain. Conversely we have a British Prime Minister and a British Government that has signed out of the North over a long number of years. I contest that since 2010 it has had a thoroughly regressive partnership with the DUP, which has been detrimental to politics in the North. We look at the calibre of the meeting the Taoiseach had with the Orange Order and Féile an Phobail on Friday, but the best of the people in the North get out of Theresa May is a visit to a cow shed in Bangor. Damage is being done.

We have also had to suffer the results of the number of really poor Secretaries of State, who are simply floundering when it comes to a number of issues. To take one example, the vast majority of people in the North, including political parties, want the Secretary of State to take action now to reduce MLA pay. The Secretary of State will not do it because the DUP is telling her not to. A cosy relationship at Westminster is holding it back. This is probably commentary and I am not asking Dr. Byrne for a response. It is a converse relationship.

I do not get some of the commentary on the unity referendum, the tribal nature of it and how it will be polarising. That is politics. Politics is tribal and polarising, but it does not have to be toxically so. If we look at Scotland, anybody who opposed the independence referendum in Scotland said it would divide the country and would be toxic, but it was not. It was the complete opposite. Village halls were full of people discussing what it would be like. We should be careful with our commentary in this regard. At the end of the day, the Good Friday Agreement facilitates the holding of a unity referendum. I am certainly not calling for it to be held tomorrow, but as the Taoiseach and others have said, we have entered into an arena where people are asking these questions. I contest that people are sitting at home at their dinner table at night talking about Brexit. There is a great sense of the unknown about what is coming. To what extent can we get engaged now on the protection of rights when it comes to Brexit, in particular some of the rights laid out in the Good Friday Agreement such as those on citizenship, electoral rights and representation rights? As an Irish passport holder and EU citizen in the North, how do I ensure I will still get to vote in the next European elections? If I want to stand as a candidate in the next European elections how do I ensure I can? I have the same rights as somebody in Germany or France may have. These issues are starting to come to the fore for people in the North. I thank Dr. Byrne for his paper, which I thought was very inspiring.