Ms Ciara McHugh:

The All-Island Women's Forum started in 2021 and we are now into our second stage. It is an all-island space. There is equal representation of groups from the North and the South. It is about building solidarity. We have 40 members and we are trying to grow it as well to ensure diversity and that all the different voices come in. This year we are going from talking about our areas of commonality and moving on to say what we are going to do. We are looking at how we are going to take what we are learning and doing in this forum and bring it into our communities.

We have two working groups. The first is women's representation, which looks to representation in public life, civic life and in the community. The second group is North-South relations. It is looking at those areas of solidarity and what is coming up again and again is the cost-of-living crisis and budget cuts to communities. I am sensing as the working groups go on almost a sense of panic from groups all over the country. They talk of the cuts to their communities, being able to feed their families and all of these things. We look at it on an all-island basis to see that solidarity. As the Deputy mentioned, you might be worlds apart ideologically but if you cannot feed your child it does not matter what flag you are under. That is the reality of the situation. The forum we have is creating space for solidarity, learning from each other and working together to make change and improve women's lives across the board.