Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think I will ever forget this project, namely, the report we are producing on the architects of the Good Friday Agreement. It is brilliant to be here talking to people who were such important names at the time - not just today but throughout the whole process. I heard these people's names being spoken about in my own home so getting the opportunity to meet them in this forum is fantastic. I do not think it is an experience any of us will forget along with a sense of responsibility regarding everything that has been achieved and what comes next.

I am fully aware that what led to the Good Friday Agreement was years of strategising and concepts that were developed. The three-strand approach did not happen overnight. It took decades. Any kind of fundamental change has to come from evolution, bringing people on board and trial and error. It certainly does not happen hard and fast. I appreciate that nobody wants to compromise the wins and the success we have had but at the same time, if it does take years to achieve progress, there are plenty of people who are unity-curious and unity-curious with a capital "C" rather than a capital "U" and are open-minded about what the future looks like. We must find a responsible way to evolve and allow these concepts to emerge that could bring us elsewhere. How do we do that when you talk about minding ourselves and minding what we have achieved but also recognising that to use the Reverend John McDowell's phrase we are "in a time between times" where something seems to want to be birthed? Where do we go from here? I am particularly interested in Mr. Kirwan's experience of the New Ireland Forum and the experience of bringing people together to carve out what the future could look like simultaneously juggling consensus and how difficult that was. None of this is easy, particularly for the people who have been involved in it. What does Mr. Kirwan think is an appropriate way forward to tackle what is on the agenda?