Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Soares for that introduction and for the briefing paper. It is always great to have Dr. Soares involved in any Oireachtas committee, but particularly this one at this time.

I wish to tease out some of the points Dr. Soares made and, indeed, some of the points that have been made by the centre in recent months on this area. The first one is what opportunities or avenues are available to get engagement from those who are simply refusing to engage with the process. I refer to certain actors in Northern Ireland - civic society, political and economic - who want to boycott the North-South institutions and anything to do with the Ireland and Northern Ireland protocol. What role can be played and how can it be more effective in bringing them to the table and ensuring that they are heard? Even though they might not think it, people want to hear them and to address the issues they raise. Then it is going beyond them, the political entity, to the people they represent. This is the great work the centre is doing, but the issue is the role of civic society in the post-Brexit area and the fact that it is so lacking. What immediate efforts must be taken, primarily by the British and Irish Governments, and how realistic are those efforts, bearing in mind the North-South stand-off and also the difficulties between the British Government and the European Commission when it comes to the implementation of the protocol?

The last point is something on which I wish to gauge Dr. Soares's opinion. It has arisen a few times in meetings we have had with representatives from Northern Ireland, both through this committee and otherwise. It is about involving Northern Irish political representatives more in the EU decision-making process. Obviously, that was fairly straightforward before Brexit. Three Members of the European Parliament were elected from Northern Ireland, there were two members of the European Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee and so forth. They are gone. A number of people, including Mr. Barry Andrews, MEP, and other members of this committee have stressed the need to provide observer status or, more likely, a more formal role.

Yesterday, the European Parliament set up its official delegation to the British Parliament. That is welcome and I hope it will be reciprocated, but more is needed in terms of representation for Northern Ireland. I would appreciate any opinion that Dr. Soares or his colleagues might have about how that might work.