Lord Alderdice:

First, the two Governments have a huge responsibility. They have understandably been somewhat preoccupied with the Brexit problems which are not unrelated, but they have a fundamental responsibility for the Good Friday Agreement process. Not that it is a question of every single item in the Good Friday Agreement being completely unchangeable as we move forward. Some bits of it will have to change because the realities and contexts have changed, but they need to be working together on this and not fighting and feuding.

Second, as far as political unionism is concerned, both unionism and nationalism must pay attention to the relationship between them. Some unionists will probably leave if we move towards a united Ireland, but for those people who want to stay in Ireland, which is the overwhelming majority of both unionists and nationalists, it is about finding a way of getting on with one another. All sides have to work pretty hard at that. I hope political unionism in particular finds a way of addressing that in a more serious way. It is natural for people to fight against a future they do not want to see, but sometimes that is not in their best interests. They need to address the reality as it develops. We all need to do that because otherwise we end up with the worst of all possible worlds rather than the best world we can create.