Mr. David Holloway:

I would like to highlight one of the other recurring themes in our dialogue engagements that I did not introduce in the initial presentation summary, namely, the vital role of participative democracy in making any meaningful progress North or South. It concerns the widespread sense of voicelessness and powerless frustration that afflicts our citizens in Northern Ireland living within a political system that, irrespective of their political views, most people regard as broken and ineffective. There is one simple process that can significantly mitigate that and that is the process of participative democracy. Across the island and the islands off the shore of Europe, we need more investment in ongoing systematic structured civic society engagements - like the one referenced by Ms Weir that led to housing being prioritised in a Civic Forum engagement that will take place at the start of November with 100 participants in the La Mon Hotel, and I will be one of the facilitation team at that event - where ordinary citizens are given the opportunity to deliberate with support with diverse and impartial advice on an issue that is felt to be important to them and reach a consensus-based solution to that issue, which, if we have the systems and structures in place, is referred to government to enact, government empowered by the people to enact change rather than people handing over their power to political representatives to do stuff on their behalf.