Mr. Derek Moore:

I will be brief, as I usually am when I speak after Ms Grundle. It is usually on Zoom when we have very little time left.

I will try to address a couple of specific issues. I hope I get them in the right context because I wrote them down as we were going along. I apologise for calling the Senators by their first names of Niall and Emer. They both said they wanted to listen. I would say do not just listen to us; hear and take note of what we are saying. We talk to many people and they listen to what we say, but do they ever actually believe or think about it deeply? It is very important that the Senators hear what we say and take note of it. We were asked to elaborate our position clearly. I must have been speaking like a politician because I thought I did elaborate it fairly clearly. Our position is that we want to be within Northern Ireland the way it is. We want to make it much better than it is. I feel that it is far easier to run within a country of 65 million people rather than imposing it on a country that will end up with maybe 5 million or 6 million people. Professor Shirlow already spoke about people's reluctance to put their hands in their pockets to fund anything.

The other big issue would be that people are talking about some sort of settlement or whatever in the future. I am a British citizen. I would not trust a word the British Government said. That is it. I know Deputy McDonald's position. She wants a united Ireland at whatever cost. That is fair enough. I do not hear that same argument or anything coming from the powers that are there now. Do they want a united Ireland or do they not? If they do want it then they need to put the position on paper.

I might have picked Ms Sugden up wrong on a wee thing she said when she spoke about the conversation today. She wondered if it is worth talking about something that might never happen and whether we should discuss it. I hope I did pick her up wrong. When I am asked that question when I talk to people in whatever context , I say that I do not expect my home to be flooded, burn down or fall down because of turbulence, but I have insurance to cover that. I think these conversations are insurance for us.