Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will ask a couple of questions before we start the rounds again. The rotation will be as we had at the start of the meeting. If it is fair I ask members to keep their contributions to five minutes. We will have Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, SDLP, Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, Independents, Aontú, Senator Frances Black, Sinn Féin again, the Labour Party and the Green Party.

I have only one question, which is more rhetorical. I accept and acknowledge the tremendous research and thought that has gone into this report. From a political perspective I know where I stand if and when a referendum is held. I will be voting "Yes". My problem is that all our debates here and all our inputs are based on the perceptions of nationalists, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland or Independents. What is missing is the unionist position on all of this. I accept that is in the Good Friday Agreement, and I am all for it, but unless we get the unionists to engage with this process and with the Good Friday Agreement as it stands and unless all of us iron out all the existing difficulties, the proposal for a referendum could lead to instability and deep resentment from one community towards another. In some respects the debate is missing the unionists' strong input on this issue. I do not expect the witnesses to comment on that because they are talking about the nuts and bolts of the referendum but my view is that there are increasing signs that some unionists, even moderate unionists, are looking the other way and that their willingness to engage, even under the Good Friday Agreement, is being affected. We need new leadership and a new view from the Irish Government, and the British Government also, to try to put this process into a clear space while allowing time for change and understanding. Do any of the witnesses have a view on that?