Ms Michelle Gildernew:

I will take the first chop at that. I think John Finucane MP and Deputy Conway-Walsh might want to come in as well. The three witnesses are very welcome. Ms Diver referred in her first contribution to the meeting about citizens' assemblies and how she felt they were very helpful and Mr. McCann reiterated that in his response to Senator Black's question. In 1998 I was involved, along with Mary Nelis, who was an MLA at the time, in discussing the potential of the civic forum in the North initially but with a view to it becoming an all-Ireland civic forum. We supported that level of engagement. We felt it should be a bottom-up approach. Mary used to say at every meeting that it was always the great and the good and she wanted to hear from real people. We want to engage with people who have something to say, who have relevance, but who might not necessarily have a voice. From that point of view, in my experience a citizens' assembly certainly ticks that box. My question was primarily about the civic forum. The witnesses might have covered that enough, but I am happy if they want to elaborate further. I will let John Finucane MP and Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh come in for the last few minutes.