Professor Peter Shirlow:

On the question on mapping, that is process involving more than just economics. It is also involves mapping social attitudes, identity attitudes etc. The point was made here today that there is a lack of data. Modelling could be done, however. As Invest NI allegedly had more interest in investing in Northern Ireland than at any time, you could model the consequences of that. I think one of the consequences is very clear, namely, lack of workers because of Brexit, which means you cannot come to the UK unless you are on a certain wage. We already have - I am sure it is the same in Dublin with the shortage of workers - things like certain restaurants not opening on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

The modelling can be done in many different ways. The problem is that we do not have an Assembly that can think in that way. You used to have that under Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness. A lot of the fintech that can to Belfast was because Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness did the tours, went out and sold Northern Ireland as a place to invest. We have lost that dynamic. I do not think we have that type of leadership at present. At the end of the day, when are we going to have an Assembly that thinks about building a society, irrespective of your constitutional preference? That mapping exercise is a very dry, boring and econometric exercise but it is the way we have to think. I am going to keep making the point I made earlier, which is that if you want an united Ireland, making Northern Ireland a more stable place makes it easier. If you want to stay in the UK, you want to make Northern Ireland a more stable place. There should be more conjoined thinking that people can achieve their ideological and constitutional outcome by behaving in a very different way.