Mr. John Green:

I was chairman of Glasnevin Trust from 2007 to 2019. At the time, we were addressing how we were going to act in the decade of centenaries. We went back to O'Connell, who was our founder, and saw his inclusivity. In the midst of the fight for Catholic emancipation, he set up Glasnevin Cemetery and said it should be a place where perfect freedom of religious rights can comfort the living and, according to their creed, look after the dead. That was epitomised in 2014. On 31 July, we had the State commemoration of the start of the First World War. One year and one day later, we had the start of the 1916 commemorations, marking the O'Donovan Rossa funeral.

Under the radar, during that period, I met many people, though not hundreds, who were on a journey. They had been former combatants. They came to Dublin and visited Glasnevin as part of that trip. They were often astounded by the fact that there was a cross of sacrifice or that there were Commonwealth War Graves Commission and National Graves Association graves side by side. Going back to what Martin Mansergh said about First World War commemorations, with at least 200,000 people in the Allied armies during the First World War, it would be impossible for those of us alive today not to have ancestors who had fought. While we were explaining the complex history, the one thing that always came at the end was the necessity to sort out legacy issues. It was a constant, but not loud, hum from whatever side or whoever came. It was extraordinary.

When I retired as chairman of Glasnevin Trust in 2019, I met Mr. Yeates and I came on this journey. I fully accept that I am an outsider to the situation but I have many friends from my days in Trinity and who I made in the time that I was chair. I definitely get the impression that we are on the right track and that the time has come for politicians to show leadership on this. As Mr. Lavery said, there are many victims who are under the radar. We all know about the victims. I am not denigrating or downing what they have but we all know about them. As Martin Mansergh said, 50,000 people have been maimed or killed. It is impossible for somebody in the North not to know or have among their relations somebody who was affected by the Troubles. Whether we have a united Ireland or Northern Ireland as part of the union, if we want it to function as a normal society, we have to address the reconciliation matter.