Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I thank both of our guests for their interesting presentations. I wish to reference the families of Ballymurphy and send our solidarity and thoughts to them in their long search for justice. I hope they achieve a large part of that today.

I agree with what Reverend Karen said about timing. I often find it interesting that commentators say that matters are moving slowly in the North and so on, but these issues take generations to change. Even in the South, the difficulties stemming from Civil War politics lasted generations, and they were not as deep as those that exist in the North of Ireland.

Mr. Lunn indicated how the 50% plus one was important. There is a considerable debate in the South on whether the 50% plus one is the right way to proceed. We must have voices to indicate the importance of the democratic decision, and that democracy has not changed in all of these discussions.

I would be a little cautious about a citizens' assembly. There are different views in the South as to how effective the Citizens' Assembly was in recent years. It has a role in allowing people who may not be politically connected or are free of the shackles of political parties to discuss their experiences and ideas, but the stakeholders in this process have to be inside the discussions tent. If they are outside the tent, they can feel detached from discussions. It would not be good for them and they would be less likely to be positively disposed towards discussions.

I agree with Reverend Karen on how the debate in the South sometimes gets distilled down to flags, anthems and so on. In reality, bread and butter issues are the most important elements of most people's lives - the health service, jobs, education and their ability to reach their full potential.

I was struck by something when I carried out research into the all-Ireland economy approximately three years ago as a member of what was then the Oireachtas Committee on Business, Enterprise and Innovation. I spoke to people from all backgrounds - those who were involved in unions, business, education, health, etc. They all pointed to three elements, those being, planning together, funding together and delivering together. If we could achieve those three elements on an all-island basis, it would mean a more efficient and better service delivery for everyone.

The important word is "convergence". Convergence does not need to have a threatening aspect for a particular community. If we converge elements of society, for example, public service delivery, taxation and regulation, it makes it easier for life to function within the island of Ireland, be that in business, education and so on. Areas where there is a lack of convergence make life harder. Regardless of what background people come from, we should be able to achieve convergence in many areas of life North and South. If people then make a decision towards unity in future, and I hope they will, achieving that unity will be far easier because many aspects of society will already have been converged. What are our guests' views on convergence, what is possible under the current Administrations and how can we work towards that?