Mr. Rory Harte:

The Deputy's question as to how to keep the information environment in respect of the EU elections to European issues is something we in European Movement Ireland focus on a lot. The conclusion we have come to both for these elections and over the past 70 years is that we have to meet the audience where they are. While in this room we might talk about the European Green Deal or the just transition, when talking to someone on the street, you talk about cars and how these initiatives will affect their day-to-day transport and, when talking to the agricultural community, you talk about their specific needs. You can always bring high-level European issues down to a day-to-day issue that really impacts voters. It is about acknowledging the domestic day-to-day issues but also noting that the decisions made about them are made in Europe, that is, that European issues affect people's day-to-day lives. We always bring it down to that day-to-day level with people. That means we are pulling on different threads. For instance, we know that housing is not a European competency but, if you start talking about housing in terms of competition law and how it affects prices further down the line, that is something that really chimes with people. Almost everything falls under that European portfolio. As long as you can bring people to that conversation, it is actually not too hard to get people to have those debates.

We certainly recognise that, coming up to the European elections, the media climate will look to European issues more and more. We recognise that it is incumbent on ourselves, broader organisations and communities that are addressing the European elections to jump on that opportunity. We do not see it as insurmountable.