Should this happen, there will be no shortage of pain to go around.

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And if there's to be a "no" vote, what then would happen to the distribution of both powers and finances around the rest of the UK?

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"What will happen is that President Clinton will lay down the law to Chairman Arafat that there should be no violence in response to this project, " said Alan Makovsky of the Washington Institute Near East Policy.

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There are issues that would have to be worked out though, such as what would happen when the sprayed-on batteries no longer hold a charge.

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Mr Hoban said it would be "inappropriate" to speculate about what may or may not happen, given that there had been no formal request from Dublin for help.

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