Mr John Dallat:

I am glad the Chairman introduced me as a neighbour. Given that my mother was from Creeslough and my wife is from Carndonagh, I claim that privilege of being a neighbour of the Chairman. Of course, we know each other in other respects as well as in respect of cross-Border transport.

I have been in the Assembly since 1998. It is worth recalling that the civic forum was created under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and made up of members of various civil bodies. It has, of course, no legislative or governmental powers and fell into abeyance in 2002 after the suspension of the assembly. Following the flags protests in 2012, my colleague, Ms Dolores Kelly, MLA, wrote to the members and various groups of the forum and we were overwhelmed by the response we received from them. It was clear that there was a need. On a personal basis, as an elected representative who has served in the assembly since its beginning, I know something that the Northern Ireland Assembly needs is missing.

We are in every respect a fledgling democracy. It is foolish if not arrogant to believe that the political parties can really create a broad spectrum of democracy without the involvement of the wider community. The civic forum did not last for very long but I remember it as something that was absolutely critical and essential. One of the reports in which I was particularly interested was the one on literacy and numeracy because we have that serious problem. That report was superb. Any legislative assembly or government would have been proud to have received it. Sadly, that did not happen.

In recent times, the SDLP has put forward motions on two occasions to bring back the civic forum, both of which were passed. It has not happened. There is a report sitting in the office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister since 2007. There has been no response. I suspect that report is a very positive one that sets out very good reasons why the civic forum should be reconstituted but we have not got it. Recent events in the North indicate that a broader body of opinion is badly needed so that we can create a truly participative democracy and give a strong voice to the wider community. I am sure all political parties in the North are concerned that the level of participation in voting is constantly dropping, which we believe is an indication that the wider community has lost interest. Those of us who are nostalgic remember the difficult work that was done leading up to the Good Friday Agreement and getting over 90% of people in the Republic and over 70% in the North to support it. It is crazy to take that tier away. In my introduction, my impassioned plea is to ask to every support not just because we want a civic forum and it is a wider spectrum of democracy but because it is if we are to shore up, which is possibly the wrong term, and continue the struggle to make sure democracy stays alive.

We do not spend all our time talking about flags, placating paramilitary groups, throwing money at them and all the other things have been going on. We need the civic forum for good reasons and I am sure we will have the opportunity this morning to spell out in greater detail why we believe that without the civic forum, we have a real problem in the North. The assembly - the big house on the hill - on its own is an isolated place. It does not encapsulate or relate to the wider community in the same way as would happen in a normal democracy where there is consensus. At this point, I am pleased to hand over to my colleague, Ms Kelly, MLA.