Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I warmly welcome what has been achieved and it is great to hear the Minister being able to utter the phrase "all-Ireland university". Those of us who come from Ulster are particularly conscious of and proud of that development. I represent two of the counties that are in the broader catchment area of Dundalk Institute of Technology and a huge amount of students from my own constituency attend the institute. I have been a regular visitor to the college over the years and I have seen its benefits for the economy, not just for Louth but for the greater area. A number of years ago, the former president of the college, Dr. Michael Mulvey, was a great advocate for more all-Ireland co-operation. I remember very well attending meetings in the Dundalk institute alongside other Oireachtas colleagues from the north east, and with MLAs from the neighbouring constituencies north of the Border such as Justin McNulty MLA, and others. It was on the basis of moving forward cross-Border and all-Ireland co-operation. The seeds of that were sown very much at that particular time. I give credit to Dr. Mulvey who was advocating for this, along with others, with the then board of governors or board of management, whatever was the governing body. Great credit is due. I also give the Minister and his Department officials great credit for advancing it to this stage. In fairness to Queen's, Belfast, some of its personnel have done good outreach, including coming to the Oireachtas. Dr. Ryan Feeney and others have very much advocated for greater all-Ireland and cross-Border co-operation. Where I come from, I very much welcome that development. Fair dues to the Minister and to his colleagues in the Department, as well as to the people in Dundalk and Queen's.