Dr. Stephen Farry:

I have some observations and I am happy for our witnesses to respond to them. As the Alliance Party, we are cross-community, so we are not coming to this issue with a preconceived outcome or lobbying in any particular direction, but we recognise there is a lack of debate under way and we are happy to take part and give our perspective on things. For me, the priority is less one of working out the detailed mechanics of how this would be done if a border poll were ever to be called. A fair degree of work has been done in that respect already, although formal decisions have not yet been taken by any of the responsible Government actors in that regard. Before we get to that type of issue needing to be developed further, the key issue will be developing the "what" and encouraging dialogue to occur. What I grasped from the thrust of the proposals is that they are very much in keeping with that. We are still in the foothills of these discussions. Before anything is brought together by Government actors in a formal proposal to be put on a ballot paper, a plurality of discussions need to happen among a range of civic and academic actors and others.

I observe about unionist engagement that one should not underestimate how difficult this will be. It is in everyone's interest in Northern Ireland to engage in discussions, even if one does not agree with the potential outcome. If there is a plausible chance of change occurring, one is far better off being inside the room having one's voice heard rather than coming to the conversation either very late in the day or after key decisions have been taken without one's participation. It is important to recognise that for unionism, especially at a political level, this conversation is seen as being an existential threat and it is difficult to cross that threshold and engage.

The more it can be established that discussions are being facilitated by independent or impartial facilitators, particularly in civic society and academia, the more chance there is in the short run to get civic unionist actors at least to engage. Once that is seen as a safe thing to do, it may well be found that political unionism begins to engage. The broad thrust and spirit of what is being said may well be correct and helpful in achieving that wider goal. The obstacles are considerable but it is probably the best and most effective way of trying to approach it.