Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise if I repeat what has been said by other speakers. My questions are informed by my experience as a student at Trinity College Dublin. I went to Belfast and I had colleagues in Stranmillis University College and St. Mary's University College on the Falls Road. From 1984 to 1989, I spent a great deal of time in Belfast. Through the friendships I made with people from all communities, I found I had nothing whatsoever to fear. However, I fear what is happening in Westminster. I had a conversation with a very high-profile and senior member of the loyalist community whose blushes I will preserve. I will not say who he was. He said to me that the Scottish people know who they are, as do the Welsh. He said that the English are going through a period of existential identity crisis and we need to support them in that moment of uncertainty. It has implications for us. I echo what Mr. Swain and others have said. Change is coming very quickly on this island. We are looking at the twin barrels of change.

I remember a game I used to play with my sisters called “Ready or not, here I come”. My experience as an Army officer in the Middle East and in the former Yugoslavia has told me that when people stop talking, they communicate in other ways and we all know where that leads us to. From my area of interest, I believe that in ten or 15 years' time Óglaigh na hÉireann, or the Defence Forces, will no longer exist. An Garda Síochána, our police force, will no longer exist on this island and I do not know what will have replaced them. Perhaps An Garda Síochána will be called the police force of Ireland or for the land, but I do not know. That is what troubles me because I have a 21-year-old, a 20-year-old, an 18-year-old and a 14-year-old, and they, like our contributors' children and grandchildren, will have to live these next steps and navigate them. It behoves us within this committee and as a community of elders - I hope that term does not offend anybody - to begin the conversations. How will policing, justice, defence, security, intelligence, social protection, education, and health be accommodated? I have a disabled child and I would much prefer the services and therapies he would get in Northern Ireland. Who is having these conversations? My question to our guests relates to how best we facilitate those conversations. Is it through a citizens' assembly? The people are already ahead of these Chambers. There is a major event happening tomorrow in the 3Arena, if I am not mistaken. I would love to have the opportunity to speak at it, but perhaps the next time. We need to reach out to one another and celebrate our differences. Diversity is the key to our survival and to our shared future, in whatever format that takes. We must have a conversation because fear of the unknown will lead to suboptimal outcomes and we do not want to go back to that dark place. I welcome any suggestions from our guest contributors on how we might have those conversations.

Finally, I wish to say that if I can support our guests' work in any way and if I can come to speak at any forum or place they might suggest, I would very happily do that.

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe go léir go dtí Baile Átha Cliath. I was born on the 50th anniversary of 1916 and, with my personal journey going back to the 1980s, I am delighted to see everyone in this Chamber and to hear Reverend Paisley and others. We are all one extended family. Like all families, it is a bit dysfunctional at times, but we are all family.