Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am looking at an exchange between my late father and Mary O'Rourke at the time about Lord Empey's initial meetings with her back in 1999. My father had obviously been pressing her on areas of co-operation. They met about energy. He talked about how great it was that they met for discussions and said "long may that continue and perhaps we will soon reach the stage where nobody will pay much attention to these meetings."

Of course, we know it has not ended up like that. Over the past few years we have had very few North-South ministerial meetings. In Lord Empey's view, what is the appetite for strengthening the North-South relationship? He talks about people being stuck in trenches in strand 1, but arguably they are also stuck in trenches in strand 2. It is really frustrating for people who believe in the possible positive impact of North-South co-operation, for it to always be seen through the constitutional lens as opposed to the practical benefits it could bring about. Where does Lord Empey see that appetite at the moment? He was Minister for Enterprise, so the all-island economy is an important part of this.