Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all support the work of the shared island unit. In particular, we have seen some major infrastructural projects such as the Narrow Water bridge, which we want to see completed as soon as possible, and that everything is going in the correct direction.

I welcome any moves that are made in relation to educational improvements on a cross-Border basis. I have one issue that I would like to throw into the mix. It relates to apprenticeships and was raised with me by a young man who is working in south Armagh. He is an apprentice butcher, who is looking to serve his apprenticeship in Dundalk, where he lives in the South, but this cannot be facilitated at the moment. This is the sort of thing that we could look at and rectify.

The wider issue I wish to raise relates to something on which the Taoiseach has spoken lately, namely, Irish unity. He spoke about wanting to see Irish unity and also the possibility of there being unity. What moves will be made to make sure we have forums across the board, be it a citizens' assembly or something else that allows for everyone to have a conversation on what Irish unity could look like, and that we involve as many people as possible? While we continue with some of that modelling work that has been done by the shared island unit, that work must be increased to ensure we do all the necessary due diligence on the possibilities for preparing for Irish unity.

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