Mr. Brian Gormally:

If one looks at the paper, it includes a few recommendations on the Irish Government taking the initiative in legislation and so on. An example is the common travel area which has been mentioned several times. A few days ago, the Tánaiste said there would be a treaty on the social security aspects of the common travel area while the rest would be covered by a memorandum of understanding. The problem with memoranda of understanding is that they are not, generally speaking, legally enforceable. It is not clear to us why only certain aspects of the common travel area should be made subject to treaty. After all, to mention a word which has not been mentioned thus far, the idea of the backstop is that it is legally enforceable. Something which is not legally enforceable is not worth very much in fraught international negotiations like these. That is one point. While I mention the backstop, I note the importance of the Irish Government standing firm. The question of the Border, which we have not dealt with to a great extent today, is very important for those who live along it. It is important for the 300,000 people who cross it every day. It is also important in its psychological impact. The freedom to move backwards and forwards across the Border today is a measure of how far we have come since the peace agreement of 20 years ago. Any change in that regard will give rise to concerns and fears among people that we are going backwards and that what they thought was settled is not. There will be concern that we are going backwards and that confidence in the Agreement is being undermined. While there is a great deal of pressure from many directions, the Border is not just a practical issue from a Northern point of view. It is a border of the mind as well as of geography.