Ms Michelle Gildernew:

I will say a quick word, if I may. I thank Professor FitzGerald and Professor Morgenroth. The more of these types of conversations we have, the better prepared we are. Since the last time they were before the committee, we know that the British Secretary of State could call a border poll at any time and we know that we must prepare for that for now. I am thinking specifically of various areas of concern such as higher and further education, education in general and health, about which we spoke at length today, as well as the areas of implementation that we want to see in the future to ensure we are ready for a border poll and preparing for one as best we can. Knowledge is power and the more information we have, the more research we do and the more reading we do on all of this, the better we will be able to cope.

Yesterday was one of the centenary anniversaries. I think we would all agree that partition has failed people across the island of Ireland. We have struggled in the past 100 years in terms of punching above our weight. While we have done well in some areas, economically the issues we have had for decades around emigration and the current housing issues show that partition has failed us. The more we plan and prepare for the future of this island, the better it will be. I thank the witnesses for sharing their thoughts with us today.