Lord Alderdice:

I find it difficult to be definitive about that. The fact that the British Government wants something does not mean that unionists will go along with it . It is very important to understand that. The relationship between nationalists and republicans and the Government on the one hand and the relationship between unionists and loyalists and the British Government on the other is completely different. Loyalists and unionists know in their hearts that the British Government, in the end, would not be too sorry to be rid of the problem. Thus, they do not have the same kind of element of trust in or accept guidance from that government. They are not two sides that are mirror images of each other.

I would be cautious about getting two governments involved in something such as this, as distinct from the political thing. They are political institutions and need to be the driver of the political dimension. Getting governments involved with civil society may be the way forward or it may be better to try to use some elements of civil society, such as getting the universities, churches and trade unions, North and South, and civil society representation to say something about how to create this kind of civil society assembly. It might have a better chance of becoming acceptable.

The two governments need to drive the political dimension of things but I think Ms Begley is talking about trying to take it out of partisan politics and knee-jerk reactions to the other side and into a more fruitful debate. This would be good in principle. I am bit agnostic as to what is the best way of achieving a good outcome in that.