Dr. Stephen Farry:

Good morning. I will try to be brief. I welcome Mr. Murphy to the meeting. I do not take a position on a united Ireland, as such, or other constitutional matters but I am very happy to engage on Ireland's future and other matters on a without prejudice basis as to where things may go. I appreciate that a fluid and open conversation is happening in many respects.

Mr. Murphy earlier made reference to the Alliance Party vote and the wider centre ground in Northern Ireland. There is a certain fluidity to that. It will be influenced not only by the offer in terms of any potential united Ireland but also in terms of the push factors and how the UK and Northern Ireland are perceived, and how Northern Ireland is seen to be working or not. It is important to bear in mind that constituency of voters will look at practical issues and can move around in terms of potential opinions, subject to a whole range of factors. Many of the issues of concern about how a united Ireland would look will be practical, rather than symbolic.

I wish to raise two particular points around process with Mr. Murphy. I accept that at some point the Governments need to have a proposition. If there is ever to be a border poll, the proposition would need to be very clear, particularly for those in the centre ground. That will involve the Irish and UK Governments finessing the question and the detailed proposition that will be put to voters in both jurisdictions on the island. Before that happens, I understand the need for a citizens' assembly as part of that process, although we are not at that stage just yet. More work needs to be done around having open-ended conversations. I would suggest to Mr. Murphy that the best people to do that are in universities, colleges and civil society organisations for now. If there is a desire to bring in people from a unionist tradition, the more mutual or impartial the forum is perceived to be, the more likely conversations will get going. If the subject areas are around practical things, such as how the health service would operate in a different situation, that is the type of conversation with which people may be willing to engage, rather than the broader umbrella concept of a united Ireland in general. That may be a better way of getting people involved in those discussions, particularly on a much broader basis.

In a similar light, it is important to try to focus on practical areas of co-operation on a North-South basis. That might just stand on its own two feet or it may become a precursor to wider political and constitutional change. There is still ample scope for co-operation between the two jurisdictions on the island. That needs to be explored much more in the short to medium term anyway, before the wider political and constitutional debate gathers momentum, if that happens, in practice. I appreciate that we are seeing some very disappointing moves against that from the DUP at the moment but, nonetheless, that is where a lot of focus needs to be in the short term.

Those are largely comments but I am happy for Mr. Murphy to respond, including to the questions asked by Ms Hanna.