Mr. Dáire Hughes:

I welcome the sentiments of every member of the committee thus far. If that is the means by which we continue to work I have no doubt it will be a productive committee. I congratulate the Chair on taking up his position. It is fair to say there is consensus that of course the Good Friday Agreement is an evolutionary document, but it remains the basis for relations not only on this island but between this island and the island of Britain. It is an especially vital forum for me as a representative of citizens in the North. While MPs obviously represent everybody in their constituencies, that includes citizens who increasingly see the centre of political gravity on the island of Ireland. It is therefore important our voices are heard collectively across political divides in this forum. The point that has been made several times about engaging unionism is a key one. While there may be difficulties in engaging with political unionism, as Senator Murphy said there is a wide array of groups and individuals who are engaging on an all-Ireland basis, a community development basis and on a constitutional discussion basis that we need to tap into. That will involve this committee being pro-active and agile in its work and maybe being flexible in the means by which it carries it out. That includes meeting people from a unionist background - people with a British identity - where they are. We need to stretch ourselves both physically and politically in order to do that.