Ms Tara Farrell:

I thank the Deputy for the question and I thank members for the invitation this morning.

I am the chief executive of Longford Women's Link. First, I will give the committee some context as to why an organisation from Longford, which is not a Border county, is engaged in the level of cross-Border and all-island collaboration in which we are engaged. Longford Women’s Link is a social enterprise. We have been in existence for 26 years. We provide services to approximately 1,200 women and children every year across a variety of fora, including education, entrepreneurship, domestic violence, community employment and so on. We also engage in widespread regional and national advocacy. I have been on the board of Irish Rural Link and am the current chair of AONTAS, the national adult learning organisation. We have been working with the Centre for Cross Border Studies since 2015. We believe that working at the grassroots level, as we do, is critical if we are to see meaningful co-operation and community development, working alongside an empowered civic society across these islands.

My first point is that we have seen with Brexit what happens when civil society is largely excluded from central discussions. I also make the point that as a women's organisation, we particularly see what happens when women’s voices are excluded, particularly those from rural areas. Those voices are essential if we want to build those inclusive and resilient communities. We are involved in a number of cross-Border and all-island initiatives, including the Ad-Hoc Group for North-South and East-West Cooperation. We have also been part of the initiative entitled A New Common Charter, which was initiated by the Centre for Cross Border Studies. It is a common charter for co-operation on and between these islands. It is an initiative to empower civic society to drive this collaboration between the islands. The key point here is that if we do not have the proper functioning mechanisms and structures for civic society to engage and if they do not include organisations from the South, then we will not see meaningful engagement. We will not see the true spirit of the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement being honoured.

We have seen what has happened throughout the pandemic: civic society organisations have in by and large been deemed to be essential. As we have been essential during this crisis, why are we not seen as essential to the implementation and monitoring of the protocol and Article 11, as well as on maintaining the necessary conditions for co-operation? Organisations like Longford Women’s Link are engaging in this work with our counterparts across the Border and on an east-west basis because we believe in that work. We believe in the value of the work. We believe in the totality of the Good Friday Agreement. However, it is not just about financial resources, which obviously are always an issue. This is about the energy that goes into maintaining these relationships and the consistent dialogue, which is important. We have to look at the longer-term impact of our work. In terms of engagement, whether it is with the ad hocgroup, whether it is in relation to A New Common Charter, or whatever form it is, there should be a structured process for that engagement. There should be pathways and outcomes, so that the engagement is not on an ad hocbasis, which is the case at the moment.

I am concerned that many civil society organisations, from the perspective of the South, will not be in a position to continue to improve or to continue to work on this ad hocbasis if we do not see real and meaningful long-term outcomes. I hope the committee might share some of those concerns.