Professor Colin Harvey:

I will take a number of points that were raised. First, in terms of the work that Mr. Bassett and I are doing, we recognise the complexity of the issues involved. At no point have we ever suggested that any of this is easy; it is complex. That is why we are calling for responsible planning and preparation and for that to involve civic society, but also to be government-led and resourced. It is precisely because we know this is complicated that we need the advanced planning first. I cannot reiterate that enough. The homework needs to be done in advance. Nobody is calling for a border poll next Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. People are calling for advance planning.

Second, when talking about the Good Friday Agreement we have to respect the right of unionists and loyalists in Northern Ireland to engage and participate in the conversation and, also, to engage and participate in the conversation about the maintenance of the union as well. We need to respect both of those things. There will be members of the unionist community here who are happy at a civic level to engage in either private or public conversations about the future of this island or these islands. There will be people within the unionist-loyalist communities who would prefer to focus on the maintenance of the current union. We have to respect that.

We have to also acknowledge that the report we have produced is an independent, academic, legal report. We have tried to frame the legal and policy space for inclusive conversations to emerge and develop. One of the interesting things that we have noticed in the past while is the civic dialogue that is emerging and voices from within civic unionism that are increasingly participating in this debate. For example, I was struck by an event organised last week by Ireland's Future where people from a unionist background were participating in a civic conversation about the future of this island. It was marvellous to see that.

In terms of going forward and Senator Blaney's point, there needs to be clarity from the Irish Government, this committee and the Oireachtas that unionists are welcome in the south of this island. There is often a lot of talk about the North. We started by emphasising the need for welcome and invitation, including to this committee. That is work in progress. We have to respect the different elements that I have outlined.

Senator Blaney also raised a question about the shared island unit. I welcome the establishment of that unit, but I would like it to be more ambitious and to be properly resourced and facilitated to co-ordinate and do the type of work that we are talking about, with an emphasis as well on leadership and co-ordination. Members will have noted, as we have, a proliferation of projects. There is a lot of work being done now, but more work is needed. At some point, there will need to be co-ordination of some of those projects to avoid duplication of effort in terms of some of the things we have talked about and are proposing. I would like to see the shared island unit being more ambitious. I would also like it to be properly resourced to take on a leadership role and a co-ordinating role in terms of some of the work that will be done.

To reiterate the point I was trying to make, I do not see the united Ireland discussion and the shared island conversation as separate. They are part of the conversation about how we are going to share this island in the future. As we said at the start, all of this is about obligations and commitments that are already there which, as stated by Mr. Bassett, are not merely decorative and ornamental and at some point will be operationalised. We would like everybody to get ready.