Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I also thank Ms Ní hUisceith, Ms Lindsay, Ms Morton, Ms Whelan, Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Taylor very much for their presentations here today. It is fantastic to come in here to a full house. A lot of the time, particularly during Covid, we would be in here talking to a screen. It is good to have the witnesses here in person and moreover to hear their views. It is very important that we have these discussions.

Can I first say that young people need to be their own representatives on local issues. Do not underestimate the power of young people as a group. As regards the local issues in Ballymun and Louth, we are in an election year as the Chair is aware. I would say, when these young people go back to their own counties, they should not underestimate their power to call a local meeting and to call on all the parties, local election candidates, TDs and Senators and to bring the issues that they want to the floor. They can ask what they are going to do to deliver for them. They have a powerful voice in the forum in which they are sitting and that will be respected when they do call a local meeting. I hope that those that are behind them and have stood for them will help them to do that. That is really how to get these things done. As politicians, we do this meeting with groups like this yearly. There are funds for youth groups, whether they ask for pitches or community centres that are being delivered on a yearly basis. There are great funds. The Minister for sport is about to deliver the next round of a multi-million euro fund across the country.

Those issues have to be delivered locally and this is probably not the forum for it, so I hope that is useful. I agree with Mr. O'Connell n relation to the misinformation. I suppose that is a world challenge. We are in a very difficult time in the world. There is so much turmoil and there is no way to know which way it is all going to go next. There is so much misinformation and recklessness by some world leaders that you would expect so much more of. It is a really trying time.

A lot of people refer to the big, bad Internet, which is so dangerous. We did not have that power when we were the witnesses' age. As parents, we did not have to worry about what young people had access to. What I find as a father to three teenagers is that while we had so many worries at the beginning, we now realise how much more developed they are compared with how I was at their age. They have much more skill and ability to cope with this information. Irish teenagers and young adolescents are more developed. That is what we forget as politicians.

The voices of young people are not being heard and I welcome the North-South approach, because politicians over the years have suffered and society has suffered because we do not trust one another. The witnesses came in here naturally trusting one another. There is no word of Protestant versus Catholic, the DUP versus Sinn Féin or Border polls; it is about society moving on. It is about people moving on and people trying to make the best opportunities for themselves and their communities in life. That is where the focus needs to be. It is really a breath of fresh air to meet a group like this. They do not come here with agendas. That is not the case with adults, who are meant to be much more grown up about these things. That is what is fresh about these witnesses coming into the room. They must use their voices and travel as much as they can North and South because I think the next generation will be the generation that makes this island move on by exploring one another's differences, learning from one another and learning to live with one another. A Border poll will not be needed, it will happen automatically. We will learn that together we can achieve much more than we currently are. This is the generation to achieve that.

I would also say to Mr. Taylor to look to the new set-up and the Stormont Assembly. He should use his voice there as well. He should go there and have his voice heard and should look to meet the MLAs. There are people here, including me, with contacts and I think he should be using his voice in there.

The more interaction that we can get with young people, North and South, the more we will start to realise we are not different, but the same. We never had the interaction we needed. As my colleague, Deputy Brendan Smith, will agree, there was no interaction among politicians in the early days when he was co-chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. There was so much mistrust between politicians when they met each other for the first time. While politicians have moved on from that, people on the ground have not. Many people in the South have not gone North and many in the North have not come South. We need to change that and young people will be the catalyst for doing so. I ask the witnesses for their views on that.

I am glad the shared island initiative was mentioned. That approach does not antagonise anybody. It is good that everyone is getting involved in the conversation because when everyone is involved, everyone gets a view and we then have a proper picture of a way forward.