Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to welcome the witnesses and thank them for coming in this morning. I wish to assure them of my support, and the support of practically everybody in the Oireachtas for the position they have taken and the courageous efforts they have made to set out a basis for equality. That is really what this is about. It is not about one being better than the other, although sometimes it is presented in that way.

In Ms DeSouza's submission one point stuck out. She said that the absence of Article 1(iv) of the Good Friday Agreement from the Northern Ireland Act 1998 was entirely deliberate. I would like to tease that out a little. It would appear that the view taken by the British authorities is that their position on citizenship for people living in the North is the historic position, and that they are refusing to change that due to the implications of the Good Friday Agreement.

I think all contributors spoke to the issue of what this means in the context of a position which is going to come about where we are looking at a poll on Irish unity, where that brings us and how that works out. One of the issues that comes up is people who identify themselves as British citizens, or as having a British identity. That is not entirely exclusive to people living in the Six Counties, and I am sure there are some of them who live in this jurisdiction as well. What needs to be done, in terms of preparations, to reassure people that they will not be treated in the way that Ms DeSouza has been treated in those circumstances? I would like to hear what considerations Professor Harvey may have in respect of that.