Mr. Mark Bassett:

The Good Friday Agreement recognises two possibilities, namely, that Northern Ireland is going to be part of a reunified Ireland or it is going to continue to be a constituent and integral part of the United Kingdom.

If there is to be another proposal involving re-partition or joint authority, that would require agreement between the Governments and the support of the political parties.

On identifying the questions that need to be posed in both jurisdictions, in the North we imagine that the question would have to give effect to the promise of reunification in the Good Friday Agreement. It would not really be a matter just for the Secretary of State alone. It would be taken by the UK Government, would have to be approved by the electoral commission and would have to take into consideration the question to be asked in the Republic. It would be unwelcome if the answer to unity in the North was "Yes" and it was phrased in a different way in the Republic such that there were clashing messages or clashing information. In the Republic we would expect the question to be ultimately identified in the Attorney General's office, approved by the Cabinet and then the Oireachtas. Hopefully, it could be contained in one question in much the same way that the provision of the Irish Constitution giving a higher status to EU law was achieved. That would prevent incompatible or conflicting provisions of the Constitution.

It should be remembered that the Assembly elections in Northern Ireland which are on the horizon are possibly shaping up as a referendum on the withdrawal agreement and, in particular, the Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol. There is the possibility of exiting from some of the provisions which have prevented a hard border so Northern Ireland's membership of aspects of the internal market and the free movement of goods is not set in stone. It is to be renewed. In that context, where there is an express recognition of the democratic consent for the continuation of those provisions, the more obvious question is whether Northern Ireland would like to return to the European Union as part of a united Ireland. That is also relevant to the question.