Ms Martina Anderson:

I apologise to the committee because I need to go after I give my response. As we indicated, Wednesday is a very busy day for me as I also have to attend an infrastructure committee. I know that those in the north west will be keen to hear that we are dealing with the A5 as one of the many issues.

Observer status at the European Parliament is fixed by the Council in advance of every election. I quoted Article 10.3 of the treaty earlier, It states: "Every citizen shall have the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union." We in the North, as EU rights holders and citizens, therefore have a right to participate in the Union. I also direct members to rule 13 of the rules of procedure, which contains the specific reference to observer status, in this regard.

What is needed is political. We would need the Irish Government to make a representation to the Council that we are in a unique situation because we are half in the EU and half out of it. Therefore, the Irish Government needs to examine and explore how this can be done and to give a voice to those in the unionist community who want to be heard with regard to their concerns about what they believe is the Irish protocol and how they view it. We want to be able to ensure that the wide representation on behalf of businesses and so on realises that this special status for the North to remain and be part of the EU is something that they value and want to see implemented in full. I am a former MEP. As the committee knows, we worked the corridors of power and spoke other MEPs in order to make sure that they understood the Good Friday Agreement in all of its parts, why there should not be a hardening of the Border in Ireland and why we needed to protect the all-island economy and how that could be done through special status for the North to remain within the EU, people understood it. They understood it in the context of where we were and where we are now regarding the conflict.

In view of the connections that they have to the Irish Government, I appeal to the members of the committee ask it to consider this and do more than ask. If we are really talking about meaningful representation and addressing the democratic deficit, as has been said by Professor Colin Harvey and Mr. Mark Bassett, it is politically feasible and legally possible. The only thing that is missing is the political will. I hope that gives the committee an opportunity to understand how it can be done.

I thank the Chair and members for affording me the opportunity to exchange views with them today. I appreciate what has been said and I hope we can formalise these meetings into quarterly occurrences so that it will allow us to take these conversations further. I am sorry that I have to go but I have another meeting in a few minutes.