Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ms McNamee and Ms McGlone for their answers. They are right in that conversations have to take place and I will be calling for them to happen. We also have to be careful about our conversations. What the witnesses have highlighted is that not all these conversations can take place in one room. It has to be a much bigger picture than a citizens' assembly. It is good to have this aired today. It is good to have a picture of the work that was involved in the run-up to the Good Friday Agreement. One of my biggest fears is having a Border poll that fails. Where that would leave us as a nation? Where would that leave us as Catholic and Protestants on this island? How far would that set relations back? That is a space we do not want to get into. Moreover, I know Covid has impacted on the work of Ms McNamee and Ms McGlone as much as anybody on the island. I look forward to engaging with them in their work in the years ahead. I look forward to an invitation to Glencree and sharing conversations and, step by step, moving the conversations forward in a way that is inclusive. It is about bringing everybody onboard in a manner that has diversity of view and respect of opinion across the board.