Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and I apologise if I am ignorant and walk out, but I am meant to be in two or three different places at the same time. I will do all of these very badly.

We had Brexit, and I remember at one stage Peter Robinson in a pre-Brexit place talking about how secure the union was and we can make an argument as to whether he was right or wrong. Obviously, Brexit has changed everything and the constitutional issue is now in play, and that is just a fact. With regard to where we are now, a number of the witnesses, particularly Professor Shirlow, spoke about how people want to see negotiation between the European Union, the European Commission and the British Government. The other problem is that the DUP, which I have said over many years has not shown great leadership and is always looking to the right rather than any other direction, has backed itself into a cul-de-sac. The only possibility is if a deal is done and they are not provided with the succour that the Boris Johnson government gave at times. Boris Johnson made decisions half of the time on the basis of Boris Johnson staying in power. We all know that. We are now in a different circumstance. We can have all the discussions relating to the democratic deficit and the difficulties with the protocol Bill. Obviously we can talk about the joint committee, the PPA and all of that. We need to get through a gap so we have a deal, with unionism given the facility and told this deal is in play, that everything is streamlined, businesses and whoever else are reasonably happy, and they get themselves off the hook. However, that is on them. They are in a cul-de-sac. I know this is asking the witnesses to look into the magic looking glass. However, what are the chances at this point of a deal between the British Government and the European Union? Do they believe that Jeffrey Donaldson and others can get themselves off their hook? Can we move to a better place and deal with stuff in relation to the economy, workforce, planning and the wider issues as regards wind energy and all the rest of it, the real things we need to deal with and the cost-of-living crisis?