I have spoken in very positive and glowing terms about the benefits to Ireland of the European Union but we have to accept also that there are downsides and that there are serious doubts in many people's minds about the democratic deficit in our future in Europe. It us up to us as political leaders in our communities and at national level to reassure people that we are capable of ensuring that Ireland's interests are heard at European level, that we are not silent on the big debates in Europe, that we have a view on the future of Ireland within Europe and are not simply going along willy nilly with everybody else. I hope the deliberations in the Forum on Europe and our own deliberations here help us to form a genuinely Irish view of our own path within a future European Union and to ensure a genuinely Irish dimension to the future of Europe.