Mr. Tim O'Connor:

I thank the Deputy. I am delighted she is drawing the conversation back to Seamus Mallon and his book. I had the privilege of working with him. He took on the task of writing that book at the age of 80. Andy Pollak was commissioned to write it with him but he did much of the writing himself. It was a privilege to walk with him on the journey because one had the feeling it was probably a last will and testament, as it turned out to be. The book was published six or seven months before he died. He did a book tour in the summer of 2019.

Part of the reason I mention that is that this was the sum outcome of a lifetime working on these issues. The view to which he had come towards the end of his life was this concept of the shared home place. I keep going back to the point that at the heart of our conflict or challenge, whichever way one wishes to describe it, are two fundamentally opposing political philosophies that, in absolute terms, cannot be reconciled. That is the truth that operates every day. They are two fundamentally opposing and contested philosophies. Within Northern Ireland in particular, it is expressed, therefore, on a piece of territory. In political and philosophical terms, Northern Ireland wakes up every morning utterly contested. Seamus was trying to grapple directly with that. The answer at which he arrived is that it is not a victory for one philosophy and a defeat for the other. It is actually finding a way we can all genuinely call this place home. The idea of the shared home place is very powerful. What does it mean? It is a challenging concept for everybody. In his book, he wrote that at that late stage in his life he was not sure that 50% plus one would give the kind of agreed Ireland we need. That is a very difficult and challenging concept.