Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Dr. McKee's last point is important. One of the weaknesses of our articulation of the Good Friday Agreement is the lack of unionist involvement in our discussions. As has been said, much of our debate is not listened to willingly, much less participated in. They feel if they participate at all, their position will be gone forever. That is the impression I get. We must find a mechanism to engage, whether it be civic unionism, as is often said, or especially political unionism, in a way that they do not feel threatened by those discussions. Is that not the reality? Our problem is finding a way to do that.