Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate whoever thought of the sit-in. It is really taking off. I saw a report on a restaurant beside the constituency office of Ms Naomi Long, MLA, and noted the difficulty the proprietor was having. An act of solidarity is required.

Reference was made to businesses that lost £95,000. Was this in a particular corner where the protests are being held? Mr. Roberts may not wish to identify the company, which is acceptable. Ninety-five thousand is a huge sum. Has there been any incident involving a tourist? If there has been none, it is important that this be said.

Masked individuals can be intimidating, regardless of the location. If there are 40 or 50 people masked, that in itself constitutes a problem. While I acknowledge signage has been put up, I wonder what the next step is. What is Mr. Roberts's suggestion in this regard? What is his organisation's message to politicians on this subject? He states people need to sit down and talk.

We need to understand Belfast is a shared city. People have said to me that one reason they were not going into the city centre, apart from the protests, was uncertainty over public transport. Public transport is important. People will not go out to enjoy themselves or socialise if they are not sure of getting home. These are some of the points that the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association and PSNI need to examine.

People on this side of the Border realise that although the protests in Belfast are very small, they are having a huge effect, locally and throughout the city as a whole. What is the police force saying on its response in this regard?

Mr. Roberts referred to visitors. Is there anything specific he is asking this committee to do to support the sit-in or campaign, or to publicise what his organisation is doing?