Ms Michelle Gildernew:

It is great to have this opportunity to delve deeper into questions. Mr. Powell talked about the period from 2004 to 2006 when trust was being built. From 2007 to 2011, Ian Paisley Senior became First Minister and Martin McGuinness became deputy First Minister, or joint First Ministers, which was probably the peak of the relationship. I look back at that time and think about the media and how people mocked their relationship by describing them as "the chuckle brothers" and so on but that was our best period of stability. When Peter Robinson replaced Ian Paisley as First Minister we saw the letter from America on the future of the Long Kesh site and how trust unravelled. I have watched subsequent First Ministers concede an increasing amount of that positive working relationship. I mean from the time of Peter Robinson to Arlene Foster, to Edwin Poots for a period and now Jeffrey Donaldson. Moreover, in the middle of all of that we had Brexit. It is my opinion that while political unionism has failed to engage with a lot of us on our future there certainly is a very broad sphere within civic unionism of those who are prepared to have those conversations and are interested in planning the future.

Earlier there was talk about inclusivity, whether Stormont has a future and Mr. Mickey Brady asked about a citizens' assembly. We need to find a vehicle to include people in that and within my own constituency there certainly is an appetite for change, to get things done and to be prepared to be involved in building a sustainable and equality-based future. I seek Mr. Powell's thoughts on all of that. I am sure he has talked to some of the same people to whom I have talked and he probably has heard all of this as well. Where do we need to go to ensure people are included in building a consensus to move forward, especially on an all-Ireland national health service, which is just one example of how we can work towards a better future?