Ms Claire Hanna:

I thank the witnesses. As I often do, I am participating from the airport so I apologise if there is any noise in the background. I appreciated the response and it is very good to hear what the unit is doing. The progress of the unit is very clear and substantial across the practical projects and the dialogue aspects as well. I am curious about some of the work that perhaps falls between those two aspects. I am thinking particularly of engagement in the areas that have borne the brunt of the political instability of the last year, such as Springfield Road, Shankill and Sandy Row in my constituency. Unfortunately, they have been picking up the pieces and been exploited by people who are trying to create tension and photo opportunities. Does the unit have a reach or projects that are filtering down in terms of both the practical projects and raising the conversation in those areas? Related to that, the categories of projects are very solid, including transport, environment, business, health and higher education, but obviously deprivation would cut across all of those. Will the witnesses comment on how they try to factor that into the work they are doing?

I apologise for the interference in the background. A few months ago we heard about a group or two that said they were going to hand back funding in protest. I am not sure what it was in protest against but it was something to do with the protocol. Has that been an issue for the shared island unit and how would the unit categorise its engagement with communities that traditionally would not have been particularly open to the type of work and conversation it is trying to have?