Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be as quick as I can but there is a lot to take in. I thank all our guests very much for their contributions. I also want to make the point that Senator Black made about this committee and these institutions being really keen to hear unionist voices, and to hear more unionist voices. If there is anything we can do in that regard, we will. It is important. I agree that we all want clarity around those steps, and what the mechanisms and criteria are for this question, in parallel with the learning and the preparation.

I wish to ask a question of our colleagues from the Scottish National Party. I thank them for making the journey today. I am very conscious of not wanting to keep Mr. Thomson from missing his fight. Reference was made to the broader civic society, community and trade union mobilisation around the independence campaign in Scotland. I would like to get the witnesses' views on, and perhaps expand on, the issue of government preparation. It touches on the White Paper, and now in the context of the next referendum. How important was the Scottish Government influence, practice and work in the independence campaign?

My last question is for Professor Colin Harvey. I am very conscious of what Professor Harvey has had to endure over the past couple of months and years for simply engaging in his academic profession. It is very important to remind ourselves of Professor Harvey's leadership in academia.

We must also recognise Professor Harvey's scholarly publications on complex constitutional issues and the way he has simplified them for people who want to take this debate forward. His contribution has significantly advanced that debate. I thank and recognise Professor Harvey and Mr. Mark Bassett for their support for the Good Friday Agreement in their latest publication. That is important to say because I am conscious of what Professor Harvey is enduring today. All he is doing is adhering to and seeking to give effect to the Good Friday Agreement. That should not be contentious or controversial and he should not be targeted off the back of that. My question for Professor Harvey is on the importance of a citizens' assembly and giving a home to this debate. What practical role can the Irish Government play in this debate going forward?

No matter who it was but I thought it significant that Rob Kearney came into the House and sat in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery because in representing Ireland in rugby he is representing all of Ireland. There is no better manifestation of Ireland working at its best that when it works as one. I was conscious of that during this important debate.