sal one of the. the coven $1000.00 play won't be much higher wages in the long haul for. welcome to the comic simon show from staunton belfast the home of the reconvened nonobvious assembly 100 years ago the end we leave those of us problems to clear a protestant parliament for a protestant state things are very different and it seems the nationalist community are heading towards ascendancy but how do you reconcile communities to face the future we speak today to 2 living content about how both communities nationalist and unionist can face the future together. i was the big formal leader of the

social democratic and labor party welcome back to the other later to later to be back are they could like to see you again thinking from your perspective a long leader campaigning constitutional nationalist. you must be pretty pleased with the way things are going i mean they assemble is back up and running in the north they. off the results of the elections of the public then unification prospectors on the if not meet your agenda setting on the medium term agenda and it's not looking like there's not going to be the threat of a ball that on land is going to be won on the irish sea following so it's pretty good from a constitutional nationalist but if you have is a very positive description ali but the reality is some months something short of that i'm very glad to see they're simply back up again on the marking and people

are car are happy the battles happened i'm not saying they're overconfident because they basically want to see product people want to see it calms that prove leaves and with a few months to go before we start producing political political product the. whole situation needs to be handled sensitive at the end than a gentle way because it would take very little to provoke part of been a trace there are ropes of the various parliamentary groups just waiting out there for an excuse to get active again so at any movement towards a new ireland an agreed ireland or united ireland all will all have to be dom gently and by negotiation rather than by coercion let's leave before we turn to constitutional politics and what needs to be done to promote reconciliation let's look at what they call but i haven't bought up politics would it be true to say that the resumption of the assembly and storm that the. a debate in the deep the

results of the republican lection had a common theme in that people were very concerned about bread and butter issues that they wanted something done the health service in the now and they wanted something done the hosting in the republic with the oval shargel the constitutional debate. and flumes i'm not sure how much it overshadowed that certainly had a big big influence the issues of the so it very clearly. because there was a housing problem the economy crashed 10 years ago the construction industry crashed nobody was building. all right because a lot of the immigrants went home to eastern europe or wherever but suddenly the economy started picking up and the immigrant started coming back we sent a bigger a boat. to basically remove what they thought was dead body on the banks of a canal and then moved up there was a mom sleeping inside that. that caused consternation and caused

a terrible reaction and set the housing are the homelessness agenda at the top the top of the list but yes there are bread and butter issues there but really what it was hopping what's happening here on the deed which happened on the ground skill in the south was a reaction to the real before start at the start of the a still biting there are still there commies recovered to dublin it has recovered hopes of risen for the middle classes but hopes have not risen much for the working classes or those that are at the bottom end of the economic scale a notice to. the government appointments the health service ministry has been handed to the official you do list as they used to be called the u p a politician by the democratic unionist sunshine fame and the other party is that hardly something of a poisoned chalice well basically health has always been seen as opposed to janice brand column the former irish prime minister referred to it. it was the equivalent

of command. because you couldn't come out and tacked. so how was it all for the health service in the south but how service generally he felt was a no win situation the all the big main parties played russian roulette and avoid that health because they're afraid of health they're scared of health and really health there are solutions to the health problem but would require somebody on robben are able to control. their former ulster unionist leader is the health minister and i think he has already shown himself to be hum's all got to grips with a number of aspects of it and i'm confident that he let chief quite a bit of timing to the constitution. would you don imus's be that after a long period of time for a whole variety of reasons mainstream politicians and the public well really seeing eilish unity on a board of paul as any i'm egypt priority but no following the elections it's no

much closer as a process but as an ambition for the parties in the in the so file when the point is a lot of assigned up to the current situation with improvements which was the good friday agreement where we signed up to the current status bought with fair play and economic justice and. cetera equality effectively but then the membership of the european union gave us a platform where there was something in it for everybody. you were allowed to be british or irish or black people ever be had a comfort comforting so as a result of the european union. as a result of breck's it on the british bracks it basically that us destabilized and scared everybody and we're now in a situation where unionism feels threatened by talk of a border polled by talk of a united ireland basically nationalism feeds that at the ins of the good friday

agreement of the advances of the last 20 years will be will be taken office serenely a lot of people here are in a position where they no longer trust them to tell can protect me about thinking unionists feel that they can no longer trust the british government some of the rest of us never quite did but they are now saying can we rely on boris johnson on the conservative party that has betrayed us yet again to stay with us in the future so you're saying as well quite remarkable situation for both parts if i can call it the community divides us additional community divide fear for the future of the constitutional nationalist community in. the people who want to see a united ireland some point breaks that might destabilize the what had been agreed on good friday and followed on from that but the unionist community having been sold out on the issue of the border no think we may get sold out in total and i

think that's the big challenge for people like me those who want to see a new ireland and agree darlin the marriage whether it's 101520 years down the road we have to create the space for conversations the political parties have almost got to the stage over the last 20 years where they're in in their or their silos. and there almost on the able to talk that has been the great tragedy of northern ireland is that people saw all the other us and then to me who was going to do them dying unionism saw my schizm as as an enemy that recalled to raise up. in many ways the provisional ira fulfilled that. fear. equally national soul unionism as the establishment or the over nord that was going to keep them down and suppress them at all costs what we've got to do now is create space in the middle for people of goodwill to work together and talk together and. try amounting

perhaps but certainly among young people who don't really care they too much about the the enlightenment so for over the past well there is a 3rd try but maybe a 4th try because we have emigrants here and with people who are neither nationalist nor unionist but the young people increasingly to day no longer very few of them under 40 remember the troubles and remember what recent volved they're looking for a life and they're looking for a future and they're looking for space where they can fulfill themselves. apocryphal story of a member of the sikh community in glasgow once be honest if he was a vote and see again sikh yeah they're sort of that old apocryphal tale i don't care i don't care yeah but the young people young people are trying to assert themselves they're not very good at voting they're not very good at organizing

themselves in a structured fashion and i think that's the big challenge for the political parties is to provide meaningful. space for people and i mean one of the things i think would radically change our politics here would be votes at 16 and if 16 year olds don't get it right what would that change the complex well i think it would weaken up the political parties and i think that would make make the. a lot more sensitive to the future. basically 16 year olds 17 year old 18 year olds indeed anything up to 30 year olds are trying to build a future for themselves trying to build a life. full of hope and follow vosper editions to do better. if they had the vote certainly will be a difficulty getting them all to vote. i'm not suggesting for a moment about what happened but the bell sizable slice of them vote. and turn the politicians would have to respond to a lot to my mind it would make the political parties more sensitive to futuristic

issues and more sensitive to the economic issues i'm told the young people you believe a positive about about the future about yourself. more experienced as a practitioner landed observer of non-obvious politics over the last generation so we had witnessed your feelings lie to the world supposed of sight or are you fearful of the future no i i'm always hopeful and positive. because quite simply i have seen massive trunks removed from mission in my life time. is moving forward steadily the difficulty about it is with the divide in our society and the tribalism if you like that any key in it towards equality or fairness can be seen by unionism. as a retreat i don't see it i see it's a win win for ever be healthy possed of society works better economically it works

better in every way. but that's been the difficulty in movement towards fair play movement towards greater levels be quality in our society have been viewed by large elements in unionism. a loss and i don't subscribe to a 0 sum politics of that somebody has to lose for somebody to when i think there's all sorts of opportunities when when the opportunity is in our society we have tremendous potential economically that we never fully realize. you know not hold feeds back to the young people who are looking for a life and a likelihood plus also thank you very much indeed thank you very much ali and always good to see. john sheridan was one of the leaders of the border community as a games but they didn't stop but they did stop

a border in the island off island join me after the break to see what he's got to say. but i'm going to tell you my story in 1903 and this man was sentenced to. charged with capital murder even though he didn't have the gun didn't pull the trigger didn't intend to kill anybody maj living in your bathroom. with the center for $23.00. confined within 4 gray walls. help him to leave death row. welcome back i'm speaking to john shot of them one of the leaders aboard the communities

again once he had his thinking on the future of the island a violent. jump shot of the last time we spoke but a year ago. this campaign should be associate him. so we're looking at the very real prospect of some sort of an island a violent north side of now that. the borders to be in the eye of the sea so you and your fellow company will be celebrating what you know. we didn't celebrate actually. we still protested against drugs that. we would feel that it's time to be even more vigilant. certainly we're pleased that. the border in the sea which was already there will still dictate it as to how do things come into the north. there's still a long long way to go because no one knows the famed detail there's a protocol in there with all agreement. smeared out agreement that there will be

a border in the sea in the gulf it will be a border on the island. we hope he lives up to that it would completely undermine the united kingdom as to who is the issuance any further if he if he did renee got but there's a committee now has to be set up to see exactly how that border on the scene will work what product can come in or not come in. other they'll be tariffs on not product or not or even for product leaving northern ireland will that have to fill in forms or will be any code applied to it we presume because of unfettered means unfettered means on shackled to us. and as far as we were concerned all the time anything produced in northern ireland could go straight into either the united kingdom or europe so commitments have been given commitments have been given but do

you trust the prime minister boris johnson or do you think you might end up feeling like the democratic unionist party that you might be stabbed in the back or isn't going to want to make his own deeds and get everybody to tidy up and stroke the t.'s and dot the i's afterwards and he thinks that all is easy it's not easy it's a bit of a haywire but anyway there's supposed to be a committee set up to scrutinise and see how that border will or will not work and of course it's very hard for that committee to make any deliberations until we get the next 9 months over us and see how the u.k. get on with their. trade talks with the e.u. which haven't started off very well one of the effects or breaks perhaps unexpected list certainly of the election the christmas election is the assembly's reconvened in belfast installment do you think that it is selfish consolidated the peace process the desire almost the real people of

a given message from the christmas that the expected the politicians to do the business and the seem to have taken heed of that than of got back together where peace belongs to everybody. particularly belongs to the community but how to troubles know them and so one would hope that storm and should be able and mature enough to work together. i would hope that storm and we'll put a lot of the past behind and look responsibly. to the people who put them there and look after their label who. were not the state of yorkshire we've only got a very very small population. and we need to have an open honest and frank dialogue consistent dialogue. i feel sure border communities against drugs would see the c.m. think. constantly with the southern gulf government because we still have to get

37 percent of our members don't southern processors we still have to get 50 percent of our we still have to agree how we share the one environment that we share we still have to try and get a quick glance. along the way we do you know we get 330000000. into northern ireland to support farming farming only made it as a red $290000000.00 that's all farming made so with farming is completely dependent on those monies coming in and their promise to us for the next year now the system to see is going to change if that system change will it be at loggerheads with the system of agriculture in southern ireland in europe. and that's the that's the thing that we need to keep an eye on and this was altering the politicians could level from the community campaign of all the communities the aspects of the

campaign that might have a way the lesson of people walking home and ups ject of absolutely with of i've often. used certainly you know if you live alone a border of border communities you learn to live to work together with your neighbor your neighbors your neighbor you cannot choose he or her or him or whatever you work along with them because you know you always need your neighbor alex and strong to go to have to. learn i think a little. but more to get on with their neighbor and work together because working together you can always do something better than working apart so if the list to be progress for the progress for the consolidation of the of the peace process if the uncertainties are to be faced in the us all uncertainties for the national committee of the unions committee is a matter of normile and finding its way forward 1st and

then presenting it to dublin law to london off to whoever that would that would be ultimately that would be the thing to do put a lid on it put the bones of of what an agreed formula what they want. and have it sort of that on their own desk 1st and then bring not. through the challenges that will be dry are to be set up and say this is the way we see it this is the way we want to work we feel everybody buys into this and obviously that makes it easy then for everybody else to try and say well let's work towards that that that's that's that's what would be hoping for whether we get that or not is another thing but look i think most people on the street would say that to have a foot in each camp to have a foot in the united kingdom a foot in the european union. has to give northern ireland

the best chance it ever hot and instead of this running to westminster and complaining all the time that you haven't got a big enough stipend when you're getting already 11000000000 and one half 1000000000 people if we could stand on our own 2 feet and make our own economy in conjunction with europe and still working with the united kingdom what's what's to be wrong with that why could it not be the new well maybe i shouldn't say hong kong at the minute. but why should it not be home in the world where it could pull in vestment i've heard somebody already knocked up by saying well how do you bring an investment if it's going to be knocked in 4 years because it could be a plebiscite in 4 years and you could decide you don't want anything to do with you want to be completely. joined at the hip to the united kingdom i think that most businesses would be happy to take the opportunity because it will

trade in both words but there themselves i would say where we have time to list what happens with these trade negotiations and there's still a space for the politicians of stallman to be to be thinking at the box to have that sort of dialogue or are they really in a position when they come out to speak to the public that still address their own section of the community you know i would hope that they realized with the actions that bars has already taken decisions and when he makes his decisions with the majority that has in westminster. any westminster voice that comes from northern and it's not going to make any difference in westminster so the difference is going to have to be made on this island with the devolved government and presumably in conjunction with the dublin government so there is no real other way to progress. with speed and doing it in

a way that suits the country and the people living in this country that are doing something here and working from here so i think that i think that they have got the message that the have to build together and i think they've been sent a message also to sit down and work together and build together because at the end of the day their cell phone tree is still intact if they wish and there's nobody arguing with them as to how they get on with economic progress in both the united kingdom and the e.u. it was a similarity in some ways between the message sent by people normally i went to the parties in the same. basically get back to work to do something about the health service and the messes that seem to be set in the public affection this february where they said look who is going to celebrate the housing crisis that people were looking for politicians to take practical action on day to day issues without it out without a doubt it's been healed as the biggest cheer inch in in a 100 years a lot of people. have certainly

a disposable income but they're working hard for it they're traveling to our worst or work they're paying sometimes for their own health care they're also paying for children scare while they work. the regions throughout southern ireland already europe has said that the western region is actually still coming up and still is disadvantaged so a lot of people of being are being left out of that new celtic tiger and when you see even the rise in social democrats and people for profit there's a there's a bigger vote coming from the left i think the public were a little they felt patronized to from the language of both fin a fall in feeling here too that they wouldn't speak to one particular partition feehan that they wouldn't go back into government together and these 2 parties have

been the government in and out themselves for the last 100 years and for the last. 5 or 6 years will work in coalition you may as well say. so i think they're completely misread it certainly it hasn't been easy for the last 5 or 6 years. to get the country back on its feet but you've got to bring everybody with you and their mess that a lot of those issues and there were and claim to. they're inclined to dictate to the voters and you can't dictate to voters every man's entitle to his own vote and to place it how he feels under still doing it so don't share your spelter there are many imponderables many practicalities many commitments have been made and they have to to be redeemed if it were possible for the politicians a storm at the state of. wheaton for love and waiting for god or or for that matter waiting for dublin to have a proposal that can be taken to dublin to london nor

a nihilist proposal this community needs in terms of its relationships with the public and this island in terms of relationship with the rest of europe and it could be said that that would not just protect the precious piece but also would create a handsome well feel of the people that would be something that would galvanize a lot of support within yeah let's hope that that wouldn't be utopia i would hope that the people would embrace that and move forward because it's not even that will protect our protect not even the health and the welfare but there has been a problem as proven in northern mental problem health problem there and not just because of austerity it's because of sectarianism is because of the troubles that have been and i think that the husbands of northern and the people of northern ireland deserve the gift of being able to live on burdened by all

those things and after mentioning and walk freely and work freely and work towards . a progressive future a better future and you know you mentioned health you know. economics good record progressive economics and one of the best things you can do for a healthy community don't share thank you very much indeed you're welcome i like ok . and this is the norm 900 help cause done seventy's to both political communities unionist a nationalist for unionists it presents a board up in the eye in the sea between the home island and the rest of the united kingdom from nationalists still threatens to remove the european union god t. to the 20 year old peace process and separately for both nationalists and unionists however the peace process holds the assembly is reconvened and perhaps the key to

the future lies in all communities in northern ireland agreeing though on pof week to the future and then presenting it to dublin to london to whatever but the best hope of a bright future for northern ireland and i 4 times myself and the rest of the crew it's goodbye for no.

it is a time in america for the workers who are making minimum wage. minimum wage jobs their rising. higher wages. yes she.

the 2nd. piece is one of the hardest moments we have had. people. struggling. with. sharing the making.