Dr. Martina Lawless:

A Northern Ireland only backstop would do quite a bit to mitigate the extent of the hit to Ireland from an economic perspective. First, there would be no need for the Government to establish any checks on goods coming across the Border. That would result in an immediate saving in terms of customs officials and infrastructure. Also, it would reduce quite significantly the disruption to firms and employment in the Border counties, which are currently the most exposed. If any disruption to that trade and supply chains across the Border currently could be avoided, that would avoid one of the significant costs of Brexit to the Irish economy.