Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Regarding Deputy Durkan's question, the whole idea of the shared island unit is to be without prejudice to the constitutional position. That is why I think it has gained such traction, so we need to be careful. That is all I would say to Deputies who, in good faith, have put forward various perspectives. The reason it has gained such traction among civil society in Northern Ireland is because people accept its bona fides. It is not a Trojan horse for anything. People accept that it is meant to deal with issues on the ground pragmatically in terms of engagement. Rhetoric is easy and words are easy, but it is hard work on the ground that matters. I have seen this throughout my political lifetime. It is about people engaging with one another and talking with one another, not shouting at one another or saying, "My way is a better way than your way". It is about trying to get more and more engagement.

On issues like biodiversity and climate, there is so much that we could do on the island to restore biodiversity loss, to have common approaches to energy efficiencies and so on, which we are doing through the shared island initiative. I would appeal to people to let the shared island unit continue with what it is doing. It is building real momentum. Community groups are coming up now for the long haul on an ongoing basis. People can have legitimate aspirations and pursue those in different forums, but the shared island unit should maintain that approach, which is important in my view. The research that the shared island unit has done is also very significant. We are trying to get all communities involved. I have outlined that in terms of some of the bodies that have been set up already - the women's forum, the voluntary bodies, groups, the iCommunity hub and so on.

Deputy Brendan Smith is correct. If we could work on further education with the colleges of further education North and South, we would be interested in getting that done. Good work is already being done at third level. Ulster University Magee campus has made a proposal in respect of a technological university in the north west. We would be very much into that. All Government agencies and Departments have been communicated with about bringing forward proposals.

Deputy Ó Murchú spoke about the Narrow Water bridge. As he knows, we allocated €3 million to progress work on the Narrow Water bridge. Its delivery has been a priority for the Government. The project was proposed decades ago and this is the first time really that it has got moving because of the shared island funding and the commitment we have given to it. Louth County Council is acting as the lead project partner. There have been about eight meetings so far and we are hoping that the project will go to tender very shortly. We look forward to that. We will keep the Deputy updated in relation to developments on that.

Deputy Richmond is correct in terms of the need to restore the Executive.

I know my time is up, but regarding other points that have been made, I do not accept that there is a hard border. Migrant issues have been raised, certainly by the North West Migrants Forum, which I have met, but there is no hard border in terms of people being racially profiled at the Border. I have questions around that. Deeper analysis is required and we will undertake that.

The point I would make in respect of the issue around the election - I believe it was Deputy Tóibín who raised the issue of what would happen after the next election or if there was an election - is that the election we have just had has to be vindicated. It was held under the framework that is there now, so that should be vindicated. In the fullness of time, there is a case for reform before the election in five years' time because the politics have changed and the demographics have changed. I do not mean demographics specifically, but the political demographics have changed, if that makes sense.

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