Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I was going to say something but Professor O'Brennan got it in ahead of me. He used the term "sectoral-specific". From my experience - that is all it is, but I have 15 years' worth - as an Independent, I did not have a party to draw on and if I was holding a meeting and only talked about the benefits of the European Union or how it impacted on the audience, most people were too busy to come to meetings like that. If it is sectoral specific, however, you can speak to carers about legislation that is pending or in train that impacts on them. You can speak to people with disability about the disability strategy. I will not mention farmers because they come to meetings. Organic farming is another sector, however. If, for example, you were to hold a few meetings on the new proposal about corporate social responsibility, people would be interested in coming to that. We could have meetings about legislation that people do not know about, even on simple things such as food safety or conflict minerals. There are many things different groups of people are interested in, but they are not interested in organic farming. It would be a nice bit of work. We could not deal with everything.

An effort could be made in order that people could see how the European Union and the decisions taken by it impact on their lives every day. This even applies to things like the European Social Fund and employment supports. You will always find an audience for some of those. Internet safety is a major issue for many parents and families. If there were to be a meeting on that, from a European perspective, you would get an audience you would never get at another meeting. This idea of Europe and its impact is far too broad. At that point, a lot of people and their families say they have too many other things to do. People are busy, unless it impacts on them and they see it as important. That is my personal experience, and all I can say is that for me, certainly that worked.