Mr. Declan Fearon:

I thank members of the committee for inviting us. I hope some of what we have been talking about has been informative to people who may not have thought about these points previously.

I take the point made by Mr. Mark Durkan, MP, emphasising that if we push the hard Border issue, it will allow the British Government to say it is not it that is doing it but the EU. However, our group is specifically a Border communities group, and the big issue for us is the reinforcement of the hard Border. It is difficult not to say it as it is. I think, having listened to many of the comments today, we are all singing from the same hymn sheet. This committee has an open door which enables us to vent our feelings and those of people who live along the Border. We would ask that the Irish Government take every opportunity in its deliberations with EU to show it exactly what a hard Border would mean to communities. I think that is a very good point, and the sooner that is done the better. We will certainly be available to meet any delegation visiting the Border area and to discuss what this change will mean. I thank the committee and, as I said, we are open to contact from anybody who wants to contact us in the future, if we can be of any help in the making of these points.