Mr. Michael Russell:

It is very important that we invest more in our overseas offices in order to maintain contact at the highest possible level. We are expanding that network and will continue to expand it and the Dublin office will continue to be very important to us. I pay tribute to John Webster, who is listening in to this meeting and who has run that office. I want to make sure we do even more than we have done.

The review of the relationship is ready to be launched. Clearly, the difficulties with Brexit have been a problem in getting that done, along with everything else that is going on. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, and I have essentially signed off on the outcomes of the review. The process was very productive. We learned a great deal and I was very lucky to spend a bit of time in Galway during the most recent election talking to people and as I already knew, the similarities between my own constituency and what was being done in the west of Ireland were massive. There are whole areas where we can work together and we have identified and laid out those areas, plus the structures we put in place for regular meetings and annual reviews. This is a very productive thing. It is the first time we have done it and I believe it is the first time Ireland has done it. It will give a good structure to ensure our relationship flourishes.

The question of what happens to the UK needs to be divided in two parts. Constitutionally, the UK is in a process of flux but that is not new. It may have accelerated but it is not new and it is certainly not new in terms of the Scottish issue. How the UK relates to the world and places itself in the world will depend very much on the current UK Government and any future UK Government. The current UK Government believes that there is a thing called "global Britain", mistakenly believes that there is some glorious past which can be returned to, and believes that it will become a beacon of free trade and buccaneering activity. I personally think that is misguided, to use the kindest possible word. It does not pay any attention to current reality. The Senator said we should pay attention to reality and we accept that the UK has already left the EU and that the transition period will end on 31 December. The reality I am looking for is a grounded sense of reality about our interdependence. We live in an interdependent world. Scotland will pursue that and I would like to see the UK pursue it. However, I am not persuaded that that will happen. Therefore, we will have to make our arrangements first to say who and what we are and then make our linkages as productive as we can with everybody, but we will not be told what to do. Devolution is a delicate dance around Westminster sovereignty. That dance has to stop and we have to all behave like adults and equals. That is what we are looking to do.