Professor Peter Shirlow:

I do not know if that is true. I do not know what evidence the Deputy has to say that. However, the point is this: if Scotland goes, then Scotland goes. Scotland is not the same issue regarding the union as Northern Ireland. Scotland has the sectarianism, etc., but it has not had the conflict or that type of difficulties. The Good Friday Agreement clearly set out the ways in which constitutional change can happen. The shared island initiative, to my way of thinking, sets out ways that we change relationships, which are the ones we need to have before we make a constitutional decision. The role all of us should play is to see how we restore the relationships that were affected by partition in the first instance. If the Deputy thinks Brexit is bad, banging on the table, shouting for a united Ireland and behaving in a way which is at times sectarian and at times unthinking will make Brexit seem like a sunny day in the park. This has to be handled incredibly carefully, not because of people's desires or demands or because they believe it is right or wrong but the issue here is not Scotland. We have gone through a pernicious sectarian conflict and there is a real hangover from that. The Deputy should not forget that in our conflict most of our victims were civilian.