Dr. Anthony Soares:

In my capacity as director of the Centre for Cross Border Studies, I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for the invitation to meet the members to discuss the centre's ongoing work in supporting and advocating cross-Border co-operation and, in particular, its role in convening the Ad-Hoc Group for North-South and East-West Cooperation.

Given that since its establishment in 1999, the centre's core mission has been to empower citizens and build capacity for co-operation across sectors and jurisdictional boundaries on the island of Ireland and further afield, we have been concerned to understand how the UK's withdrawal from the European Union may impact on cross-Border mobility and cross-jurisdictional co-operation and how any of those impacts may be mitigated. This has led to intensive work in analysing relevant policies and legislation, much of it set out in written and oral submissions to numerous parliamentary inquiries as well as in many of our briefing papers. Last March, and with the objective of improving our understanding of the context being shaped following the end of the Brexit transition phase and the entering into operation of the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, the centre also initiated a quarterly survey of the conditions for North-South and east-west co-operation aimed at civil society organisations and local authorities on the island of Ireland. The third quarterly survey has just recently ended and its results will be presented later this month.

As a means of gaining a more direct understanding and to secure engagement with the mechanisms of the protocol under the joint oversight of the UK Government and the European Commission, and as many other organisations on the island of Ireland share our concerns, in May 2020 the Centre for Cross Border Studies came together with a range of organisations to establish theAd-Hoc Group for North-South and East-West Cooperation, which the centre convenes. It aims to act as a prime contact point for purposes of meaningful consultation between cross-Border civil society and regional, national and EU bodies on matters relevant to co-operation between Northern Ireland and Ireland and between the island of Ireland and Great Britain. In the first instance, in light of the protocol, the ad hocgroup and organisations involved in its work have been engaging with relevant decision makers, including the European Commission's task force for relations with the United Kingdom, the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, representatives of the Governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Specialised Committee on the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The Ad-Hoc Group for North-South and East-West Cooperation is committed to working with others to safeguard co-operation and good relations within and between these islands and looks forward to doing so with those who are currently making decisions that will affect the future landscape for co-operation and the maintenance of relations between our peoples. We do so conscious of the fact that the underlying context for such co-operation has changed, with its actors no longer operating from within a shared membership of the European Union and therefore, for some, with their governments and other relevant institutions no longer in a position to directly shape EU policies, particularly those such as cohesion policy, that support cross-Border co-operation. The ad hocgroup believes that for all interested parties, including the Irish Government, to properly monitor the impacts of the implementation of the protocol on the conditions for North-South co-operation there must be sustained and effective engagement with those who are intimately involved in such co-operation.

The Centre for Cross Border Studies believes that the Ad-Hoc Group for North-South and East-West Cooperationrepresents an invaluable asset in this regard and calls on all parties to continue and deepen their engagement with thead hocgroup, including the bodies established under the protocol. Such engagement would ensure that organisations from the Republic of Ireland are able to offer their perspectives on the extent to which they are able to engage in co-operation. It is our belief that no serious monitoring of the impact of the implementation of the protocol on the conditions for North-South co-operation or on east-west relations can take place without hearing directly from those involved in such co-operation who are based in the Republic of Ireland. I am grateful, therefore, that joining me today are representatives from three of the other organisations involved in the ad hocgroup: Dr. Aoife Ní Lochlainn, Brexit policy officer with the Irish Environmental Network; Ms Tara Farrell, chief executive officer, CEO, of Longford Women's Link; and Mr. Stephen Douds, president of the Irish Association. We will be pleased to answer the members' questions.