Ms Barbara Walshe:

One of the reasons we are here today is to highlight the centre's work and to say we could do more if we had more. I have chaired the centre's board for the past five years and have been six years on it. It is a voluntary board comprising 12 really good people. We have worked really hard within the constraints that exist. We are funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the reconciliation fund, which funds four core posts within the centre. While we are grateful for this funding, it really just keeps the lights on. There is a big demand for our work, particularly over recent years, with Brexit and the need to facilitate back-channel conversations between people who are not speaking to one another. It is also a matter of speaking to paramilitaries about a range of things within all that. Mr. Hynes can speak to that a lot better than I can.

It is also about the vision for the place, which is nearly 50 years old. The site is owned by the OPW. It has buildings that are derelict and buildings we use. In some way we have developed a vision for the place that could be a centre of excellence for peace. It could be the type of place that would enable a conflict to be engaged with at not just a national level but also a local level and an international level, a place that would bring people together and be able to facilitate learning about negotiation, mediation and alternative ways of dealing with conflict.

For the first couple of years when I joined the board we were nearly wiped out by the recession - there is no point in saying we were not. The board was in recovery during that time. The place is moving again, and the work that has been done over recent years has been high-quality. A lot of that work has been silent and behind-the-scenes, and the thing about being behind the scenes is that nobody sees what is done so it is difficult to get it funded. That is the situation at present. We are very confident, however, and looking at other sustainable sources of income that will enable us to support the growth of the centre ourselves. We need an investment from the Government, though. I am looking for that investment that will support the growth of the organisation and enable us in the long run to be sustainable. I do not know if PEACE tenders can ever be fully sustainable, but it is a matter of being more sustainable than we currently are.

Looking at the current Security Council and the power blocs on it, the reason we support the Security Council seat for Ireland is that we think a small country that has had conflict, suffering and trouble may have something to bring to the Security Council.

I have not given it much thought other than that.

Did Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan ask me other questions?