Dr. Claire Mitchell:

-----that emerged in the 1790s - can provide such a fantastic template for the constitutional questions we are facing currently. At the time it was Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter. I would suggest that list could keep going by adding "other", "migrant" and "heathen". That is a very inclusive way to frame who belongs to the nation.

I did not used to feel I could ever play a role in meeting or building in Ireland because I was as Scottish as I was Irish according to the DNA test but I think the challenge is to really create a meaningful kind of form of nation-building in which all can play their part. The United Irishmen movement was hugely inspiring in that. The problem with the Protestants is that they were a bit too radical as leaders but we can expect that.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his questions. Linda Ervine's work is an example that is similar to 1798 in that the Irish language, like 1798, is a template for Protestant engagement with Irishness that was inspiring and a connective tissue with the land and the island we live on but which had been forgotten, erased, made illegal and dumped from schools, etc. I worked very closely with Linda. I still only have bunrang Gaeilge and I am terrible at the language aspect but I am on the committee for the new school for Naíscoil na Seolta and the new bunscoil that will open in September. Linda's example is a wonderful one to pull out. She has been at this work for over ten years at this stage. She has gone from having protests outside to having senior unionist figures taking ownership of the question, "Sure, was it not Presbyterians who helped save the language?" It was the same with the naíscoil. We faced protests at the beginning but really it was for people. Linda's model was to meet people for a cup of tea, bring them in and have small discussions. We have gone on from that. We met first in a non-denominational church and then a Presbyterian church and we now have our own premises. We are over subscribed for the preschool this year. It is a very positive model to look at the way Linda has done things. She has always had her door open. She has not been tied to any kind of political party or vision. What she is offering is that, in the way that the ideas of 1798 are healing, the Irish language of itself is healing for northern Protestants because all of a sudden these words that had been a mystery to us are connecting us to the soil, the bend in the field and the river that flows past us. With all of that, Protestants feel more rooted to the island and not one tradition. The GAA is also a very important example. We all have a psychological hump to get over as Protestants when participating in these Gaelic and true Gael activities. I think that view that we do not really belong here is slowly beginning to change.

The talk radio media environment is pretty terrible for women. I know many wonderful, articulate women friends who do not take those calls because there are school runs to be done and conflict to be thought of at the last minute and it is too difficult to participate in. I assure the Cathaoirleach that there are small, local conversations taking place on a regular basis. That is where real change is happening.