Mr. Brian Dougherty:

I think the reflections I will provide are similar to what Mr. Moore touched on with regard to the social impact and impact on civil society of the current debate. Derry people like to whinge. I do not particularly want to go down that line today, but there is important context to this discussion. We can say the same of our colleagues in the north west, in Donegal. Unionism in Derry, or Londonderry, is different from unionism in Ballymena, Belfast and everywhere else. Derry is peripheral to Belfast, Dublin and London. If people are unionists in that city, they are even more peripheral. Mr. Moore referred to the Protestant exodus, particularly after Bloody Sunday, how that divided the city and how it made unionists feel even more isolated.

Much of our thinking on the constituent base we work with reflects on how our position within Derry, as it is, may then change within a broader united Ireland. Is there is evidence there to say we would feel any more or less isolated or marginalised?

In the mid-1990s, there was a lot of very positive, progressive stuff that happened within the city and Professor Shirlow referred to it a wee bit as well. There was a negotiation around parading, which created the groundwork for much of the stuff that Mr. Moore's and my organisation has done since. However, unfortunately, that was negotiation out of necessity. It was around Protestants trying to find their place within a city and what might happen if they did not negotiate. We have to be very careful in this debate that we do not fall down that same line. The whole constitutional conversation needs to be based on the premise of generosity.

We use a dial in our work at Londonderry Bands Forum and our partnership that we kind of use as a reflection of where we sit in terms of good relations. It is called the intolerance to celebration model. It starts at one end, where we may be intolerant to parading, the Irish language, for example, or other minority cultures. It goes from intolerance, to tolerance, to acceptance, to promotion and celebration. We always refer to that dial and ask at what point we will get up to celebration. Are we at a point now where unionist culture can be genuinely celebrated? Will it be celebrated in a new Ireland?

During the parading negotiations, we always felt it never got beyond tolerant. Parading was tolerated, but know your place and do not go across that line. Thankfully, during UK City of Culture, which happened in Londonderry in 2013, the Londonderry Bands Forum did some very progressive, innovative and creative work. At the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, five loyalist bands played on gig rigs to a point where Martin McGuinness himself talked about that need for mutual respect and generosity to be maintained. At that point, we had got to a stage where parading, for example, was both promoted and celebrated. However, somehow, in the past ten years since that, we have gone back down to that simply tolerance level.

My final point around this whole debate is that we need to be aware of that. We need to manage expectations. The impact of this debate in the current civic climate is very dangerous because young Protestants have to realign their sense of identity and sovereignty and move us back from some of the progress and peace-building we have done. As important if not more important is managing the expectations of young nationalists within Northern Ireland. What happens when they finally realise that after all of the questions we are asking and all of the practicalities of a united Ireland, it will not happen in their lifetime and how will that then impacts on civic stability in Northern Ireland? That would be my main concern.