sol jones, every time i travels and whether it's east or west africa, people stop me and tell me how much they appreciate coverage. and our focus is not just on their suffering, but also on a more realistic and inspiring story. people trust to tell them what's happening in their communities in at p a and i'm biased and as an applicant, i couldn't be more proud to be part of the a stand off slips 1st in politics and northern ireland for 2 years is over pro protest you need is set to take the seats and the regional parliament where the biggest privacy is shouldn't say a lot. it's go. is iris unity. so could that happen? oh, really. okay. remain intact. this is inside story. the

hello and welcome to the program. i'm adrian finnegan, suspended by a boy called northern islands, power sharing parliament. the storm on the assembly is to resume business it. march the end of a 2 year impasse. the 1st thing to political stability after a hard one piece, the region in the u. k. was form to an island was politicians by britain in 1921 as a decades was controlled by pro protest unionist. that's all changed since the last election is the largest policy. is now sion fame. formally the political wing of the aisle race that for a violent conflict from 1969, the seeking irish unity, tens of thousands of civilians were killed or injured in violence involving the british army, police, and several paramilitary groups and international peace process. so the years, bruce, a political settlement of the aisle re dissolved in 2005. so how important is the resumption of politics in northern ireland? will the region remain of the u. k. or could irish unity become a reality?

we'll be discussing this in more in a few moments without guess, but 1st this report on how these events developed by image and came back to the political stalemate ends in news in orland to democratic union. this policy would be dropping its boy quote of the northern ireland assembly as it had pulled out as a new trading rules following the you case withdrew from the european union under brooks. it that it said undermine northern islands position in the united kingdom. this package, i believe safeguards please, and the union will restore our place within the u. k. internal market. it will remove the checks for goods moving within the u. k. of remaining in northern ireland. the power sharing institution is central to the 1998 good friday agreement . ended 3 decades of violence in northern ireland from the 1970s viewed as one of

the most prolonged complex in post for western europe at the time. the suspension of the assembly installment belfast affected public services creating simply a difficulties, particularly in health and education. we're conscious that there is a huge amount of work to be done and that's at society has really suffered from the absence of governments over the last 2 years. we're almost 2 years away from the the last assembly election, the assembly to nice it for the 1st time since elections 2 years ago. the highest number of seats one by sion fame, the political wing of the all right, versus room for the to use. the 1st time a policy seeking united ireland, one and the election in northern ireland under the good friday agreement, signed by all parties, the irish and purchase governments and underwritten by the u. s. and e. u. a

referendum could be held on. i was unity, but need to purchase government coolant. the restoration of the northern ireland assembly is triggering debate. whether that cannot happen a push insane obvious unity is its number one goal for pro purchase unionists, preventing that happening says image and kinda how to 0. the inside story, the that's bringing out guests for today's discussion that will joining us from belfast in northern ireland, dining morrison, and also proof only subbed as the national director of publicity efficiency and the 1980s is with us as just mark davenport and independent journalist offer on form and open island political as an island correspondence and did right here in a professor of social policy at all state university, a full, a member of the irish council of state of world. welcome to you all danny. let's start with your should frames lead a mary,

mary lou macdonald this week said that irish unity was now within, touching distance as nationalism. they finally come. well, certainly that is the direction of travel. there's no doubt about that. have you looked at the r o, the building caught in the last 20 years? most castles in the west of the steps are controlled by shenfield. shenfield is the largest political party in the us the vehicle to 2 years ago. we shall need to present a tomorrow, could become the 1st minister. 2 years ago sion fee and woman majority of face which tightens them to the position that was during the election campaign. and that's definitely been the leaders of the 2 man that union as parties refused to step products. and they all action that they would accept the results of the election that they would recognize michelle names rate to be 1st semester. and

that's the reason why there's not so much suspicion problem. nice lot, some of the public and supporters about the status of the day you pay in regards to the protocol and the wins or framework document. was it the suspicion of the shot henry? i'm to be the real reason behind the refusal to take the stage and install what's for this reason that they just don't want to set that guy, they 1st metal start wonder, i shouldn't be in republican one 1st. most mock given that to should things break through a storm on undoubtedly has both a symbolic can psychological significance. is that going to translate into irish unity anytime soon. but how can you have, shouldn't say there's most popular policy in northern either, but though with a prospect of, of unification in the near term. i was dying. morrison says it may point to a direction to travel, but i still think the voucher. ready is go some way to guide the situation,

the way you go, essentially, to big minority. you say there's a, a big bind or a c, a probably the british unit is see, want to remain called of the united kingdom and a big bind, or actually a pro r as naturally as he wants to join with the public. ready and to one united on the balance of power. if the polar referendums all these questions, the cold in the near future will be held by those who tend to see themselves as know aligned to the one a little bit on it to work on one the bread and butter politics to, to be as comfortable in this process for every one of the as possible. i don't know that so signified, but in all these on the lives part is included in the night and they say themselves, is it alliance between different parts of the community? yeah. and those people will have to be convinced i thing, no, just of the sort of a romantic notion and ashes. but it would also be in that best interest and natural,

his best interest in terms of economic and so for realities entry, picking up on, on what mark was saying that tell us something about the demographics of northern island on, on whether that changing right now the demographics of the are changing and the last census for the 1st time we had a majority of the population, he described themselves as complex or born into the catholic religion. so that is a huge change on something that has caused a lot of discussion. but it is important to say that when are talking, but to not have, we're not just talking by 2 large blocks of people anymore. it's not a union us versus nation. i was thinking about northern i, we know i think about it in terms of 3 minorities, so the union us nationalist and those people in the middle who are the non aligned they haven't decided either way were there those would be an event of a border cold so we went down and maurice and quite rightly points to the rise of shouldn't be. and what it is important to say is that rise options in how coincide

is with a server or we've of supports for iris unification. that's a big house. and how big is opposed which suggest that that is still so they not arrived 35 percent. i'm so there is a job of work to be done by the good to your by union us, i'm nationalist to convince that was on the line. people were their future wouldn't be bad or the issue around the clock. so storm it was, i think eventually you need us realized. but by staying or to develop government and refusing to participate in par sherman, they were actually sending the message to northern ireland was dysfunctional, couldn't operate as part of the united kingdom. and therefore, they were actually forming the future of the union that they professed to love. so they moved away from that position. and i told him 1st and foremost about making northern ireland work, making an attractive place to live and working on your future. denny. the start assembly then resumes business on on saturday. tell us something about

michelle o'neill. the 1st one is that what, what's the, what's the background? and to what extent could, could a send actually cement and all that on his position in the u. k. simply by restoring confidence in the state as quote, as well. first thing michelle layla thinks that our forty's, our father was an irate customer and we offer the nation 81 oversight. here's an example of all the sellers who died in the oversight of before that was elected as an m p for, for model central. we adopted an electrostatic j a. the iran was also fight and that's arms struggle and paul, elbows up to shelby's father, who was an x already does note with he can. but if you stood for election, he was elected to the local counsel and the don't go calander yet. when he died, michel stage the by election. she's. she was successfully elected liver. she became of the system to police martin regardless. there was the,

the 1st minister and the assembly. she was, i think she's also minister of agriculture and most of health as well. so. busy and she has really business to the rations, excuse me, articulate by eval, universally a graduate like myself a university. i went to prison and long guess what? you pronounce a new generation of i confident niceness of republicans thoughts and they the 2nd part of your question a the stereo there shouldn't being present to the assembly and mix it work. surely that is only going to send that communion but also sort of respond to sort of the market dirty. so the matter is the end of last week and the social economic and political gifts for this artificial spit north of 6 countries

facing called northern ireland. as always, right, that's the 50 year history, the us controlled mean sign process and stopped by community to give you an example . when i grew up, i'm in a sense of going from west style fast when i will, the orange order. the book, you know, the setup is a, the engines make make the promises or were catholics. they weren't. charles was able to march on the fall showed by the time we weren't able even to march into the city center to celebrate the nice little ships to copy. all of us change remarkable changes idle rover fee by which my community no longer feels like which we have right, right. confidence. so that for at the, going into the stall as part of a process of reconciliation with you and have a conversation as well. so working with them, showing them that they have nothing to fear from the nice mr. pope. again, giving you a along the way, of course it's a fee and yes, shouldn't been only for

a long period. and i suggest it's often been campaigning for our mission. depends, we do not accept a great guy, but there are, except the guessing will accept the tomorrow. but the british government, us, at any rate to be here to, to our lives. so that's his objective that's always been by operation. meantime, we have to accept certain realities and the reality is that the, the union with prison, the union was really all that remained incredibly for originally a, by a do you pay to refuse the copper based and the furnace compromises for tablets? probably most doctors that may propose as a compromise with your opinion they want for the hardest part is for breakfast. and the reason why we believe was because they wanted to see a border go back all between the north, a balance of the certified and on the board, which was what was happening,

those res border. i mean all the 3 or 400. ready but the deal that we're pulling up, i have any charmaine, but i just want us to like an old opinion on the so it was from $112.00 manager to of course we believe that they, they, they are based out of the day and boiled for the harvest, okay, breakfast time, what's the for the border by hope again? yeah. mark, i'm picking up on, on, on the donny was, was saying that about breaks it in particular. i mean, forgetting your political allegiances. the people in northern ireland want to be part of the what would be the benefits to them? and um, is unification more or less inevitable even if the people in orlando don't particularly want it right now, is it something that's going to happen eventually anyway? when we have the referendum role bracket i the george you, the people handle that actually voted to stay within the your,

you do the not as probably because they will not smooth line bolts of this sort of practical difficulties. but we've experienced the b is the people in india installed on the wiles. uh so uh, this whole business of trying to on and have those difficulties as being in the context of try to us please recreate some of the balance which was pretty much easier to create when both are and i'm the k or by the fall event because of the are being used and that would any of these particular bar to try them we'd be experiencing maurice event ineligible. i'm not sure whether they utilize it on is necessarily inevitable. ready either documentary about 3 years ago which march the $100.00 out of the 3 is the creation of the dog. and we did an opinion poll is part of the pro. ready around a most people will know that on and would still be in the u. k. of by 2071 of the majority of people. so i have mine left enjoyed you know,

i did all. ready by 2046, those dates were just all the bases of 10 years over the 125 years on the 100. the day that was just, i suppose people's guesstimate. but it's quite possible that we could to go with all night long. but there is a bit of a kind of dream which is that the most stable, unsuccessful little bit all and is that not in volume? well, mean the people just feel the pushing the extra step on the right tools, you know, at all it isn't. but. ready all dentry, i mean, feel free to pick up on, on what mocking and danny was saying the but what about people in the republic? did they want beautification? could, could the, does the kind of problem the republic afford unification? i wouldn't lead to more instability if it happened. well, i think picking up a little market down, i have said, i don't know, the united hands is inevitable, but what i do know is change it as an admirable, but we will not stay stock like this position of the we aren't changing. the

biggest change of course, was the good friday agreement, where the constitutional arrangements and for north america were largely settled. we would stay as part of the united kingdom until the majority of people wanted otherwise. really, it was breakfast that came along through the constitutional arrangement up in the air, and we didn't know where the pieces would fall. there were many, many warnings for people living in north and not have the breakfast would be a bad idea, but they were no work to dance. that the stand chase village talked about, scare mongering, the pace this was nonsense that wouldn't have any impact on our island. but of course we knew we were the only countries in the u. k. the short a line border with the so brad, because it has really all set those people here and they were settled prior to that . and the other thing we've learned since breaks it is the idea of voting for change without knowing what that change would actually mean. it's gone in and let

the people of we've left anything through those talks it, here's a breakfast. negotiation says that you don't take on the books that people want to know quite right, claim, avoid what it would mean for their health service. what would mean for education? what it would mean for the economy of their children? those questions have yet to be answered. so i think regardless of lot of people say, there is a huge amount of work to be done to say this is what it would look like. we kind of address the questions that you and have a blessed have. i'm for people in the republic of ireland. there isn't a huge commer for unification. again, they want to know will go to maine, how much would it cost us? what would the implications be? because when we talk about borders and we've talked about borders and says some place for the last 7 years, it is important to say that border as i'm the, the grievance that we're talking about at the moment the tree leaves are the archie by trade and commerce. of things that aren't really the best,

most of the day to day lines, whether or not things are attractive towards what customers paperwork will look like. but borders are also a bike identity. they're also but emotional issues where you feel attached to those are important considerations and then also political borders, constitutional issues. so there are a whole raft of issues when we talk about taking away borders, easing borders or creating new borders. what we do, you know, from breaks it as if there is to be change people as an stable want to say what exactly. ready does this named for me? what way your previous question about whether or not we wanted to leave the european union, i can say as an academic that's leaving the european union has been disastrous. we want that wouldn't be disasters on a day to day is it means that our young people, our students kind of travel really across to your opinion under the rasmus game go

and why isn't that arise and realized there's more to the world and northern ireland that has been taken from us, we as researchers kind of have to see and access to a you wind phones a you why research games looking up innovation and health, for example, which is by research or if we could no longer be key parts of those research projects. they have been replaced by the british government and by but by much inferior programs. and so there has been a significant loss to us in terms of leaving the european union. but we can time to believe stated a tiny. i mean, feel free to pick up on that, but i also wanna ask you for being such a relatively small place and all that i that still makes a lot of news headlines around the world. why is that the people the getting over the differences now or, or other tension still bubbling away under the surface as well. i mean the

lowest on stronger. ringback than western europe, but we 50 years before, by the end of that to negotiation, a very strong, you know, a statement that has republicans and the republican store has been criminal and eventually they were forced to negotiate. but the republican leadership, and of course, all of our prisoners were released from prison the general, almost day after the green training agreement. i think also perhaps a lot of interest on conflict regions around the word as because we borrowed from the piece process. and so it's, i think, a lexmark mcginnis also was involved in and, and then columbia and, and, and the boss company and try it out and visited the middle east as well as vocal to boston, the representative. so broad people think that there is a pop. busy use them as a company, that's a perfect company. obviously, the problem is that it just well that we have a process for getting there. and i think that's why there's still

a good degree of interest and out of just something that dirty did say the fact the monitors. so almost all painting phones and the size of fire republican fire, i show a vast majority in favor of irish, the unification button on the file. the one of the dilemma is it is a, went off, or even part of the compromise wanna new life style. so, or perhaps a new advice, no fly as a gesture towards the us to try and meet them before being work. all people have said no, they haven't reached out to that aspect of it, which, which would indicate a degree, oh, nice of strong republican sentiment and the size of island. that is why shouldn't be of is critical of the i installed. it has not investigated results every has, as mentioned, or maybe i don't know which papers to reduce the papers that we need. this demonstrated so that you know that i don't mix social economic, political so,

so sorry to interrupt you david. time is against us. mark. but what does the resumption of a storm assembly actually mean for the people of northern ireland? how has the suspension impacted upon people's lives? if at all, i mean, how significant is this? well, we have seen the deterioration of public. so this is very. ready ready we have some of the longest waiting list for hospital corrections anywhere in the cage. we have crumbling infrastructure. we have a public sector workers, it'd be. ready taking industrial action going on strike recently because they haven't been getting the kind of a paid settlements involved with inflation and that kind of ought to be getting elsewhere in the u. k or elsewhere. and so a financial um, incentive for love to know something like $3300000.00 pads will go a long way towards easing some of those difficulties. whether this new government will deliver, i think, will be to, to some extent to the will of a politicians who will be sharon tyrell,

inside the shallow jail. and also to whether they can make one is still a rama on wheels. these has to work the system that was designed to do the good friday agreement was designed in order to make sure that all the costs of the community a bolt into it, you just by the section of a quite often is paid a bit of a rest of the full drives that style light of the story, whether the power sharing the executive since i so i think is still going to be a clear case of the georgia b apps on how well uh the know the power chair and the next few years i wanted to put that pointed to the dra, how is the default system i set out in the, in the good friday agreement, the best way to govern northern island today? it's complicated, but is it efficient? does it work private? you can, it is called us. yeah. tell us something about the storm and assembly itself, how it works and how much power it has as well as most the best way to describe is we have a lot of the coalition that ensures that majority in majority are and some countertop

. um, so that uh, the 2 largest parties are in par are going to be sent in under the paid amount because we are moving away from the idea that one great condone is another great, but that is incredibly complex and complicated. and there is a brian as well, of opinion, not that we must for, for the system because actually be invariably find ourselves in gridlock where we cannot reach agreement on the serious public sector issues. i'm the, there is a we're a resignation in northern ireland, but we seem to be faced with a choice between no government or bob government. so i can assure you why people are cautiously off. domestic, the government is coming back. there are no party. she won't hear any shopping call a balls being opens because people really do baltimore to say him. if we were looking at the report card for bar to both administrations for the last 25 years and would be, could do much bad. her. we happened to move forward and in the case, social policy areas of education. oh hello. i suppose we always have to be

full. but if the parties actually truly want to share a par, if the will is there, then they can find a way to do it. so there's a sort of the b is going on as deeply in the system deeply in the architecture that the good friday agreement ball roll or is it actually the just the individuals do not actually want to share a par on resent the positions that they find themselves and just going back to a point that was made earlier the sort of quickly a low it's historic date because if you look back at the, the states of the creation of this day, it was built for an in belt. protestant union, us majority, there is nothing more comfortable the change that has happened that michelle and a, a nationalist, an irish republican. nice that to, to talk in the store when the government was par for policies. okay. mark

was literally about 30 seconds left. what will be the executives main priorities when it, when it returns to work? i think it will be ensuring that it's public services are improved in firstly, that will be by paying the public site to work as the money they're entitled to. that's going to be the 1st job and then we might have some complications in relation to how that's post breakfast deal. so we may have some challenges. but there's plenty really. this is going to be in the, in try. the politicians just sold the guy to be lot of the bread and bought a box has brought about the difficulties that we face. okay, that we must and many thanks indeed to you. old daddy morris knocked up in port and the dry heat and as always, thank you for watching. you can see the program again at any time by going to the website of ours is 0 dot com for further discussion on this issue. join us on our facebook page, you'll find that at facebook dot com forward slash h a inside story. and of course you can join the conversation on x. i handle that, that h i inside story from the adrian thinking and the team here in the we'll see you

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