Mr. Gerry Adams:

Civic unionism is reflecting. Some of them are changing. Some of them are no longer unionist. We can look at the Ireland's Future event that people from northern Protestant backgrounds attended. I was at an event in Derry last week organised by the Sinn Féin commission on the future of Ireland and one young woman spoke eloquently. She told us that both her parents voted unionist - that was her background - but she had moved, on the basis of the need for rights, to the position that the people should determine the future. Those changes are happening, but it is impossible to quantify them.

I probably talk to more unionists than most people, with the possible exception of the Sinn Féin Northern representatives. There is definitely a move but unionist political leadership has decided not to engage. A new organisation to keep the union was launched recently. That is a welcome development. Apart from anything else, it shows unionists formally engaging in debate and gives those of us who encounter it another opportunity to listen and talk to them.

We must be a little hard chaw about some of this. The orange is here. It is here to stay. You may think whatever you want about it, but this marching tradition they have is part of their tradition of their national flag. The march in Rossnowlagh goes off without any issue. We just need to factor in that the marching order is important for a section of people. The orange, its institutions and the other loyal institutions need to be assured. Some of them probably fear they will suppressed and prevented from doing what they do. Sectarianism is one of the huge unresolved issues on this island and must be tackled.

It served a purpose for the elites because it divided people. We have to make sure it does not serve any purpose in the future. In particular, I come back again to the idea of good neighbourliness. There has been this awful family dispute where neighbours were killing neighbours and people were severely traumatised and bereaved as a result. There needs to be a healing process. There needs to be an effort. Irish Ministers should be in the North every day. They would be welcome. They should be going about their business. They should be working and listening. There has been some great work done by successive Presidents here in opening up Áras an Uachtaráin to people from that tradition. All that is needed, as well as engagement with the political leaders. As I have said, they have decided tactically not to engage at this stage, but engage they will at some point. What we have to do is make it a very welcoming, warm and reassuring engagement for them.