Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Professor Harvey spoke about parity of esteem, equality and so on. As part of the narrative, people have concerns that somehow they will lose something as a result of other people getting rights. There is this idea of equivalence, that if the other community gets something, we need to get something in these negotiations. When we consider educational underachievement, there is a sense that if one school is being closed down, another school needs to be closed down. In addressing poverty, the focus is not on areas with the most poverty, but that we have to share investment with other areas. Does Professor Harvey, with his human rights background, come across that challenge?

Today's focus was supposed to be on voting rights in presidential elections. We have not even had the referendum and I am thinking ahead. What message would it send if the people voted to reject that amendment? What impact would it have on the Irish diaspora and particularly on those living in the North of Ireland?