Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses; it is lovely to meet them virtually. I am feeling very positive about the shared island unit. I particularly like the fact that there are different aspects to it including dialogue, research and an investment and development fund, which is about putting our money where our mouth is. I congratulate the Taoiseach in that regard. His speech has started things off in a very positive manner. It points to how dynamics change and challenges appear, as they have done over the last couple of years and underlines the longevity and importance of the Good Friday Agreement.

The witnesses touched on engagement and I am heartened to see that a lot of thought is going into that on a north, south, east, west and cross-community basis in terms of reaching out to people who have not engaged much previously. The witnesses are working on their outreach strategy. Will there be a communications strategy as part of that, so that people are being pulled in from different communities and different points of view towards dialogue? Will the witnesses push out to engage more people? Will there be an online presence? Is the shared island unit going to have an identity?

The witnesses talked about how there will be a comprehensive programme of research to support the building of consensus around a shared future. I would like them to tease that out further and tell us what they mean. There will be research into sectoral issues as well and reference has also been made to an all-island research hub. I ask the witnesses to tell us more about the latter. Is that a physical hub or a coming together of different academics in a group? Will the research be quantitative or qualitative?

My next question relates to resilience. When the Northern Ireland Executive fell it was for three long years. We have talked about the importance of health and the work that is being done through the North-South Ministerial Council on things like children's cardiac surgery in Crumlin hospital and in the north west on cardiac and cancer care. In reality, those initiatives started before the Executive fell and they continued on. Part of me wonders, in the context of Covid-19 and our current vulnerability, where we would be if work had been able to continue during those three years on new public health projects. If the Executive fell again, would the shared island unit be able to continue its work? How would that work?

The University of Ulster campus at Magee is mentioned in the programme for Government in terms of its potential in the north west. What is the situation in that regard? A tour of the shared island unit projects would be beneficial for this committee in order to keep us engaged. These projects are important and will be the basis of what the shared island unit represents.