Dr. Philippa Whitford:

I want to say a little bit on this but also on the fishing question that was raised. It is absolutely critical that we put more effort into the British-Irish relationship and, indeed, find new structures for a UK-EU relationship because the informal meeting within the UK at EU summits, etc., will not be there. What people are less aware about the Good Friday Agreement is how much of it came about because of the friendship that developed between John Major and Albert Reynolds as a result of their meeting in neutral ground in the EU. That has not been given very much credit. There will still be many aspects of the position Northern Ireland has been put in that will need to be hammered out. It is, as Mr. Mills and others have said, an unusual position.

We will come across things we have not thought about. One of the concerns is whether European citizens living long term in Ireland and working for Irish companies will be able to travel into the North or, indeed, across to Scotland to mend a computer or install an IT system. Some of these things are still not clear.

Personally, I had a concern that these clauses in the UK Internal Market Bill were about creating leverage because they have now been removed. The problem is that it has undermined the UK's reputation and it has made the issue of governance bigger.

Coming to the issue of fishing and having annual quotas and a gentlemen's agreement, the problem with annual quotas is, even for the industry, for it to invest in new vessels, improved vessels or new equipment, there is a requirement for the industry to know, over a longer period, what kind of quota it has access to. In addition, there is not a great advantage for the UK industry in having annual quotas. Unfortunately, the UK Internal Market Bill - and where we are at present - undermines any sense of "Let us just have a gentlemen's agreement". Things will need to be defined. They will need to be pinned down so that both sides can count on it.