Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their contributions and apologise for my late arrival. In the context of a presentation made to it previously, the committee was informed that the majority of young people between the ages of 18 and 26 in Northern Ireland are not even registered to vote. Does this give rise to a generational political disconnection and, therefore, does politics in the North still centre around the emotions which held sway in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s? Is it the case that the young people to whom I refer are so politically disconnected that they cannot even be bothered to register?

I do not wish to say anything to offend anyone but I get the impression that there is not really any political imperative to overcome sectarianism. This is because sectarianism is the lifeblood of the political party system. Political parties in the North identify themselves along particular lines of national identity and, therefore, overcoming sectarianism is not in anyone's political interest. Will our guests indicate how they believe the political designation within the Assembly is working? Is it time to re-examine the position? I understand the reason behind the inclusion of that designation at the outset but is it not giving rise to a situation whereby, as someone indicated to me, the Assembly is functioning in a dysfunctional way?

We do not have integrated education in the Republic of Ireland. We have a long way to go before we reach a position where there might be a semblance of integrated education for people from different backgrounds. Education in the Republic is very socially divisive and I presume it is religiously divisive in the North. At a recent meeting in Stormont, it was explained to me that an issue arises with regard to working class Protestants and Catholics. I was informed that working class Catholic children who attend second level Catholic schools are six times more likely to reach third level than are their working class Protestant counterparts. Mr. Sheridan referred to a different statistic in the context of working class males. Perhaps our guests could provide some clarification on the matter.

Given the level of emphasis placed on issues such as flag protests, policing, national identity, sectarianism, etc., is there a tendency to overlook matters such as social disadvantage and political disconnection?