Mr. Chris Hazzard:

I thank the Chair and welcome Dr. Mitchell. Today has been fascinating. I apologise but I am travelling and so am stuck in the car. Coincidentally, I am heading to the 1798 centre in Enniscorthy as part of our European election campaign but I wanted to touch upon some of the things Dr. Mitchell has alluded to.

One was newcomer Irish and foreign nationals who are now making Ireland and the island of Ireland their home. For those of us who advocate for constitutional change and building a new Irish Republic across the island, what lessons can we learn from the last five or six years where this process of change and identity-shaping within the wider Protestant and Dissenter community has taken place as we start to embrace newcomer Irish and those people who are making this island their home in order that we can begin that conversation as quickly and probably as successfully as possible?

Second, like most people on this call, we all have family friends and people we live with who stem from the community we have been speaking about today. When it comes to people reassessing their identity and reassessing the journey where they are at, what is the most difficult part about unshackling themselves from the position of supporting maintenance of the Union? For a long time it was said the maintenance of the Union of Great Britain and the North of Ireland was about material well-being. Perhaps Brexit has shaken that, as perhaps has the loosening of the Catholic Church's grip on the southern State. Are there other items Dr. Mitchell feels are still the most difficult or intractable when it comes to walking this journey? How do we begin that process? I thank Dr. Mitchell again for her contribution today. It has been first class and I am not surprised, as I read Dr. Mitchell's book, which I commend to anybody who is interested in this subject.