Mr. Eoghan Duffy:

I thank the Deputy. The overarching theme from the first dialogue with young people - and the Deputy mentioned a couple of points there - was a desire for more opportunities for connection between each other on the island. It came through really strongly both as an end in itself and then in terms of an interest in having an opportunity to work together and talk together on particular issues. The point was also made that both the North-South and east-west dimensions to those connections and relationships should be fostered. That is something that has come up as well in subsequent dialogues when we have had a focus on, for instance, the environment.

There is recognition of how much civil society is a part of finding solutions on the environmental, climate and biodiversity crises and the need to take account of what people at community and civil society levels are saying on an all-island basis but also to provide supports so that can happen to a greater extent. That is a really strong theme that has come through and we are reflecting in the unit and in Departments around how that could be better supported and taken account of.