Professor Jonathan Tonge:

I might answer Mr. Finucane's question on a bill of rights as I did not get time before. I am unambiguous on this and can give a very short reply. I totally support full implementation of a bill of rights in the same way I support full implementation of Irish language provisions. It is a clear-cut answer. On the question on political institutions and the attitudes to change, the point I was trying to make was not to put blame any particular party but to say collapse must be a last resort.

I thank Ms Hanna for helping to raise the invitation. On what would happen with a citizens' assembly, there are obviously different models for setting those up. I would try to follow the model that is there in the South for setting up and getting a truly representative body. It is certainly entirely doable. On the mechanisms of it, it is there in New Decade, New Approach that one would have this civic advisory panel set up under that agreement which advises the Executive. I think I was mistaken before in saying the First Ministers choose the issue. It is the civic advisory panel that advises the Executive on how that citizens' assembly should proceed, the nature of topics that could usefully be addressed and the decision-making forum. What influence it would have would again be up to the Executive and whether it would then make legislative recommendations and draft a Bill on the basis of what a citizens' assembly proposes.

The citizens' assembly model is better than a civic forum model. Deputy Mac Lochlainn's question about what happened to the Civic Forum for Northern Ireland is a good one. It disappeared without trace. I would like to see it back but it is more important to have a citizens' assembly. The civic forum was contentious because some people objected to who should be in it. There was never consensus about who should be in it. For example, the Orange Order asked why it was not in it as it represents thousands of people in Northern Ireland. Thus you will not get consensus, whereas with a citizens' assembly, because it is randomly selected, albeit weighted to be representative of the population, no one can seriously object to who takes part in it. It would not be a credible position to take.