:00:00. > :00:00.Hello and welcome to a special election edition of The View.
:00:00. > :00:07.With one week to go to polling day, we're at Ulster University's
:00:08. > :00:10.new campus in Belfast city centre with representatives of the five
:00:11. > :00:12.main parties facing questions from an invited audience
:00:13. > :00:39.This time next week the polls will be closed and the snap Assembly
:00:40. > :00:41.election of 2017 will be over, with nothing left to do
:00:42. > :00:45.Those results could dictate the shape of politics
:00:46. > :00:49.Tonight, we've invited the younger generation of voters to join us
:00:50. > :00:51.and put their questions to the political leaders who are
:00:52. > :01:02.Arlene Foster predicted it would be a brutal campaign and there have
:01:03. > :01:04.certainly been plenty of claims and counter-claims,
:01:05. > :01:08.accusations and denials flying between the parties.
:01:09. > :01:12.But as we head into the final week, what are the issues that matter
:01:13. > :01:16.We've invited an audience of under-25s to ask the questions
:01:17. > :01:22.The people supplying those answers will be Paul Givan from the DUP.
:01:23. > :01:29.Robin Swann from the Ulster Unionist Party.
:01:30. > :01:38.So let's get started and our first question tonight
:01:39. > :01:40.comes from Colum Mackey, who is the President of
:01:41. > :01:52.What will have changed when we get to the far side of this election?
:01:53. > :01:58.Ultimately, it will be for the people to decide what will happen at
:01:59. > :02:03.the election. That is democracy. There is a clear choice in terms of
:02:04. > :02:08.what the public have to deal with. We are putting forward a very clear
:02:09. > :02:11.platform, laid out in our manifesto, about growing the economy, creating
:02:12. > :02:16.the jobs young people want to be able to get, well paid jobs. We have
:02:17. > :02:27.a track record of delivering on that. Over the last five years, we
:02:28. > :02:29.created 40,000 new jobs. Unemployment has dropped from nearly
:02:30. > :02:33.60,000 in 2011 to today's figures of just 30,000. Progress has been made.
:02:34. > :02:35.To create the type of environment that young people want to stay in
:02:36. > :02:40.Northern Ireland because they will have the right jobs. This election
:02:41. > :02:43.was brought about unnecessarily and on the other side of the election it
:02:44. > :02:47.will be for those returned to try and make sure we can put Northern
:02:48. > :02:51.Ireland forward again and try to find the common ground that I
:02:52. > :02:57.believe all of us want to do. But this election was not necessary.
:02:58. > :03:02.Sinn Fein used the RHI issue as an excuse. It was not the reason.
:03:03. > :03:05.Ultimately, they are more interested in the narrow Republican agenda and
:03:06. > :03:09.they see this as an opportunity to weaken unionism. I think people
:03:10. > :03:17.recognise that and the verdict will be cast next week. Essentially, the
:03:18. > :03:20.election is a referendum on government. So I hope people turn
:03:21. > :03:28.out to give a view in relation to that. If a public and agenda is
:03:29. > :03:31.writes for people with ethnic minorities and disability rights,
:03:32. > :03:35.then their RA lot of Republicans out there. But the things we have argued
:03:36. > :03:39.for in terms of those rights, the things we have argued for in terms
:03:40. > :03:43.of standards in government, which the DUP fall well short of an proper
:03:44. > :03:46.investigations when serious allegations are made, these are
:03:47. > :03:49.needed to ensure that a government can go aboard on the proper basis,
:03:50. > :03:55.the basis of the Good Friday Agreement, voted for by the people
:03:56. > :03:59.of Ireland. That is the basis on which we are in government. The
:04:00. > :04:05.demands proper rights from people, proper standards in government and
:04:06. > :04:08.proper behaviour. But what is your response to the question, which is,
:04:09. > :04:15.what will have changed on the other side of the election? What will have
:04:16. > :04:19.changed is the verdict of the people and what will ultimately change
:04:20. > :04:22.things is how people vote. People who aspire and purport to be in
:04:23. > :04:26.government have too abide by a set of standards. We are there courtesy
:04:27. > :04:31.of the Good Friday Agreement, which gives us the situation to be elected
:04:32. > :04:35.to. The institutions might not be back. That might be the cheap thing
:04:36. > :04:41.to change, that the Assembly is not there. We are not giving up on the
:04:42. > :04:44.possibility. The people voted for the Good Friday Agreement and we are
:04:45. > :04:48.not giving up on that possibility. But there have to be proper
:04:49. > :04:50.standards of behaviour in government and proper investigations which
:04:51. > :04:56.actually can allow a degree of confidence to be restored. That is
:04:57. > :05:00.the reason the institution came down, the RHI scandal. Nothing else.
:05:01. > :05:03.That needs to be properly investigated and we need people back
:05:04. > :05:08.in the institution on the basis of the Good Friday Agreement. What will
:05:09. > :05:11.have changed hopefully is the government and the mood and the
:05:12. > :05:15.sense of possibility that has not been there in the last few years
:05:16. > :05:21.that I have been install mod, that sense of optimism and that we can
:05:22. > :05:25.actually change things. Hopefully it will be functioning, not direct
:05:26. > :05:30.rule, which is looking increasingly likely if the two large parties are
:05:31. > :05:33.returned. It will have the partnership in visits to in the Good
:05:34. > :05:38.Friday Agreement, because that is how you do reconciliation and get
:05:39. > :05:42.partnership, by building trust. That does not happen when everyone is
:05:43. > :05:46.circling the wagons in negotiations, but in working together and getting
:05:47. > :05:52.on with things. Hopefully it will be substantially reformed, because
:05:53. > :05:55.reforms are needed in terms of where the power rests and some of the
:05:56. > :05:59.oversight mechanisms. Having an opposition was the start of some of
:06:00. > :06:03.the structures but there are reforms to make it run more smoothly.
:06:04. > :06:09.Hopefully it will be somewhere with good governance that spends our
:06:10. > :06:13.resources a lot better than the two large parties have done, and
:06:14. > :06:18.somewhere where policy moves on, everything from the economy, to
:06:19. > :06:22.equality and legacy issues. We do not park them in disagreement but
:06:23. > :06:26.try to move them through and change things. Robin Swann, could it be a
:06:27. > :06:30.government led by Mike Nesbitt and Colum Eastwood on the other side of
:06:31. > :06:35.the election? That is what you have been saying is a possibility. What
:06:36. > :06:40.will have changed? If you listen to the first two contributors, if they
:06:41. > :06:44.come back as the two largest parties, nothing will have changed,
:06:45. > :06:48.because they both gave the exact same scenarios that have brought us
:06:49. > :06:55.into this situation. The only thing that will change is if the largest
:06:56. > :06:59.parties change, and their respect for the institutions and the general
:07:00. > :07:06.electorate changes, and they treat each other with a degree of respect
:07:07. > :07:11.and trust, and show that respect and trust to the electorate who put them
:07:12. > :07:18.in position. Are you conceding that that is unlikely? If the two largest
:07:19. > :07:22.parties come back, nothing will have changed. The question is what will
:07:23. > :07:29.have changed. If the DUP and Sinn Fein are the largest parties,
:07:30. > :07:35.nothing changes. Are you predicting there will be a change? I am
:07:36. > :07:42.predicting it, yes. You are on the record saying that will happen? We
:07:43. > :07:46.are trying to engage the general public, to get support for the
:07:47. > :07:50.positions we are putting forward to be in government. Naomi Long, it is
:07:51. > :07:55.unlikely that you will come back as one of the major parties, but what
:07:56. > :08:00.do you think will have changed significantly on the other side of
:08:01. > :08:04.the election, if anything? Let's wait and see who are the major
:08:05. > :08:08.parties after the election because that is not a decision made in
:08:09. > :08:11.studios like this. It will be made next week by the public in Northern
:08:12. > :08:15.Ireland. They will decide whether or not they want to return the same
:08:16. > :08:19.people, the same parties and the same problems, or whether they want
:08:20. > :08:24.to choose differently and make a real change. That is an option. We
:08:25. > :08:28.have seen people make massive change in government before. So there is
:08:29. > :08:34.that opportunity and an election holds that potential. Do you get a
:08:35. > :08:39.sense it is building towards that? Yes, there is frustration in the
:08:40. > :08:42.mind of the public about how the executive has operated, about RHI,
:08:43. > :08:47.scandals, the whiff of corruption and secrecy. But what I do know,
:08:48. > :08:51.possibly the most important thing, what will have changed, we will have
:08:52. > :08:54.spent ?5 million on this election and squandered at least two months
:08:55. > :09:00.when we should have been getting the Budget together, planning for
:09:01. > :09:04.Brexit, investing in our underperforming health service, and
:09:05. > :09:07.we should have been actually tacking -- tackling the issues affecting the
:09:08. > :09:12.services that impact on people's lives. That leads a small window.
:09:13. > :09:16.Everybody is focused on three weeks to get a new executive but we don't
:09:17. > :09:21.have a lot of time to play with because by the end of March we need
:09:22. > :09:25.a Budget in place so that those who work in the community and voluntary
:09:26. > :09:28.sector, for example, and the public sector, will know that their
:09:29. > :09:33.salaries are secure, funding for services they provide are secure. We
:09:34. > :09:36.will have spent two months in an election campaign that has been a
:09:37. > :09:41.distraction from the work of running the country, so we need to get back
:09:42. > :09:44.to that. Whoever we elect needs to be ready to do that job with whoever
:09:45. > :09:49.else is elected with them. Regardless of who the largest
:09:50. > :09:53.parties are, we will all end up in some combination, having to work the
:09:54. > :09:58.system together. Back to the question. What do you make of what
:09:59. > :10:02.the politicians had to say? And what is your sense as to what might have
:10:03. > :10:08.changed and what might not have changed? I think people who live
:10:09. > :10:13.here want to be governed by people here. They want to make sure there
:10:14. > :10:17.is a system that works. If we take the election last May, people voted
:10:18. > :10:22.for people to form a government, not for another election. Regardless as
:10:23. > :10:26.to what happens next week in the elections, I think people will want
:10:27. > :10:30.to see some sort of progress and something that works for the people
:10:31. > :10:36.here. Let's hear from the chap in the middle of the second row with
:10:37. > :10:44.glasses. What the parties here appear to have outlined are the
:10:45. > :10:49.problems with... Do they not feel that we should move to a system
:10:50. > :10:56.based on greater power sharing? So you think the system is broken? Yes.
:10:57. > :11:01.So what should they be doing to fix it? To fix it, maybe the parties
:11:02. > :11:04.that go into government should be working together more closely, and
:11:05. > :11:08.we should see more focus on integrated education and housing,
:11:09. > :11:15.that we can then bring the grassroots together, so the system
:11:16. > :11:19.may function better. So a bigger commitment on the part of those who
:11:20. > :11:31.go into government to work together. Yes. Do you want to add to that? I
:11:32. > :11:36.think that is important. If you build from the bottom-up and work at
:11:37. > :11:38.a grassroots level and you have integrated services, integrated
:11:39. > :11:43.schools and everything, you can build a society which works for
:11:44. > :11:48.everyone together, instead of having diverse situations from an early
:11:49. > :11:56.age. A final comment from the young lady. Society in Northern Ireland is
:11:57. > :12:00.sick of constant bickering. We need something that works better and
:12:01. > :12:03.everyone works together. We are constantly seeing the Orange versus
:12:04. > :12:08.Green politics and young people are sick of that. Do you think young
:12:09. > :12:14.people will vote differently? I think they will. I think there is a
:12:15. > :12:18.problem in Northern Ireland where it is like a tribal vote, you tend to
:12:19. > :12:23.vote where your family or community vote with. I think we will see a
:12:24. > :12:28.change this time and young people will defy that and vote for actual
:12:29. > :12:33.policies rather than the Orange versus Green argument. So you think
:12:34. > :12:40.there is change in the air. I think so. Paul Givan, young people are
:12:41. > :12:43.saying quite clearly the same thing, there needs to be a greater
:12:44. > :12:48.commitment on the part of politicians to actually work
:12:49. > :12:51.together, not just to say it. They are valid points. You can have any
:12:52. > :12:56.type of legal framework that requires people to work together,
:12:57. > :13:00.but unless there is willingness to do that and co-operation when
:13:01. > :13:05.problems arise, then whatever framework you have, if there is not
:13:06. > :13:09.trust, things can breakdown. That is an admission of failure that the DUP
:13:10. > :13:15.and Sinn Fein could not get it together. Eight months after the
:13:16. > :13:20.election last time, we face another election. Eight months ago, people
:13:21. > :13:24.did cast their vote. You are right, you are supposed to work through
:13:25. > :13:28.their problems. Whenever we encountered problems before, Sinn
:13:29. > :13:34.Fein cost is ?174 million over welfare for. When we had murders
:13:35. > :13:38.taking place that the police said the IRA were connected to, we took
:13:39. > :13:42.the view it was better to work through the problems. Sinn Fein took
:13:43. > :13:46.an opportunity to exploit, for their party advantage, which is why I say
:13:47. > :13:51.to young people who I speak to are voting for my party and recognise
:13:52. > :13:54.our policies, that they are attracted to them, they can see
:13:55. > :14:03.through the excuses that Sinn Fein are using. Let's put that a Conor
:14:04. > :14:10.Murphy. Michelle said it was time for a united Ireland. You cannot be
:14:11. > :14:13.surprised at that. I am not surprised but why introduce the
:14:14. > :14:22.principle of consent into the context of this referendum? Your
:14:23. > :14:26.party have been doing it all along, using the politics of fear to try
:14:27. > :14:31.and drive people into trenches. Of course you have. What you are not
:14:32. > :14:34.hearing from the young people, what you are ignoring, is the more
:14:35. > :14:37.uncomfortable conversation. They do not just want to see people
:14:38. > :14:40.cooperate in government, but politicians willing to make the
:14:41. > :14:45.effort on the ground to unite communities there. You stood in the
:14:46. > :14:49.Assembly chamber more than once and answered myself and my colleagues
:14:50. > :14:55.and denounced things like integrated housing, as social engineering. It
:14:56. > :14:59.is anything but. That is correct and they can check the record. You
:15:00. > :15:04.described it as social engineering. At the end of the day, it suits you
:15:05. > :15:09.to keep people divided and afraid because confident people, united,
:15:10. > :15:12.will not be driven into voting out of fear. They will vote out of hope
:15:13. > :15:12.and that is not in your best interests.
:15:13. > :15:30.APPLAUSE I don't think anybody would have
:15:31. > :15:36.stayed in the executive with Arlene Foster's involvement in the RHI
:15:37. > :15:40.scandal. I would be surprised if any party he would have sat beside
:15:41. > :15:45.Arlene Foster. She said you did nothing wrong and there were times
:15:46. > :15:54.when DUP wanted Mairtin o Muilleoir to step aside and he didn't step
:15:55. > :15:59.aside, so both sides can say that. In relation to the issues, I
:16:00. > :16:03.understand people get frustrated with politicians arguing, but the
:16:04. > :16:07.reality is we believe passionately in what we believe. We believe in
:16:08. > :16:13.rights, some people have some people don't and we are on their side of
:16:14. > :16:18.the people who don't. The SDLP and the UUP disagree on all of the
:16:19. > :16:24.issues that we disagree with the on. They disagree on Brexit. But they
:16:25. > :16:28.said they want to try to work together and find common ground.
:16:29. > :16:32.Everyone wants to try to work together. There are some fundamental
:16:33. > :16:37.issues that we are dealing with that are difficult issues. We have
:16:38. > :16:43.stretched the hand out again for reconciliation. We want to try to
:16:44. > :16:47.create a better society but at times you need to realise that integrity
:16:48. > :16:51.is important in government and if that integrity doesn't exist you
:16:52. > :16:56.need to go back to the people. Where was the Integra G in the employment
:16:57. > :17:01.tribunal will never find you guilty of discrimination against a
:17:02. > :17:08.Protestant, or Michelle O'Neill been fine guilty of breaching the
:17:09. > :17:16.ministerial code? Let's hear from Clare. One point that has to be made
:17:17. > :17:20.is that a lot of the parties that have just been an opposition have
:17:21. > :17:25.been pointing out for years the lack of partnership, the Power exclusion,
:17:26. > :17:28.the lack of transparency, the bad governance. We were told that we
:17:29. > :17:31.were all enemies of the peace process and so on but if there had
:17:32. > :17:37.been more collaboration because of dealt with some of these problems.
:17:38. > :17:41.It is not sectarian to have a view on constitutional issues, or to be a
:17:42. > :17:55.nationalist word Unionist, but when you only appeal to
:17:56. > :17:59.those impulses and all of the common good sceptic nor because they are
:18:00. > :18:01.the only buttons you're pushing and ignoring Baker's a common ground,
:18:02. > :18:04.that is when it becomes a problem. We did have a rash of big gestures
:18:05. > :18:07.and historic handshake and fair play for people step in light of their
:18:08. > :18:10.comfort zone, but they never allowed it to filter down into things like
:18:11. > :18:15.housing policy. It would also be wrong to pretend that there was huge
:18:16. > :18:20.agreement on a massive range of issues between The SDLP and the
:18:21. > :18:24.Ulster unionists? It is not that we will have the fresh start which we
:18:25. > :18:28.were told was the be all and end off, then it was the end of history
:18:29. > :18:35.and nothing else on that list was dealt with. We will compromise and
:18:36. > :18:39.that is what politics is about. We disagree on things nicer. That this
:18:40. > :18:44.because we are prepared to sit down and talk through the problems rather
:18:45. > :18:49.than make the grand gestures, rather than push the institutions to crisis
:18:50. > :18:57.point time after time. Paul has listed them, Conor Murphy has listed
:18:58. > :19:02.them. So, back to the question, what will change? This last exchange
:19:03. > :19:08.proves that unless we change the main parties in government, nothing
:19:09. > :19:14.will change. This next question comes from Mark Curran is
:19:15. > :19:17.particularly relevant as far as that is concerned.
:19:18. > :19:20.What are the parties doing to stop the brain drain of young people
:19:21. > :19:27.There are a number of things we need to do. We need to create
:19:28. > :19:33.opportunity. One of the things we have talked about is our manifesto
:19:34. > :19:37.is good prospects. That is about ensuring for example that we were
:19:38. > :19:41.able to provide world class university places for young people.
:19:42. > :19:46.We want all tuition fees at the level they are wrapped we need to
:19:47. > :19:51.put in an additional ?30 million a year into higher education. We need
:19:52. > :19:54.to develop apprenticeships and training opportunities and develop
:19:55. > :19:59.further education sector and link that into specific programmes for
:20:00. > :20:03.14-19 -year-olds to miniature people get a seamless transfer through into
:20:04. > :20:08.their education. We need to be able to make Northern Ireland and open,
:20:09. > :20:11.welcoming and welcoming society because that is how we will get
:20:12. > :20:16.people to come here, the kid jobs here and how we will get people who
:20:17. > :20:20.get their education elsewhere, and people will choose to do that with
:20:21. > :20:24.the experience, to come back. If you live in Northern Ireland and you go
:20:25. > :20:29.away to university you often find yourself in a much more progressive
:20:30. > :20:34.environment. You come back and you feel yourself being controlled, from
:20:35. > :20:37.when you can buy a drink over the Easter holidays, right through to
:20:38. > :20:41.you can marry. I think a lot of people choose to move away because
:20:42. > :20:45.they are sick of that kind of control. People want to make their
:20:46. > :20:50.own decisions as adults and have a liberal, tolerant democracy. That is
:20:51. > :20:54.Tommy rebuild the economy, that is how we create good prospects and a
:20:55. > :20:58.good quality of life. Northern Ireland has some benefits are other
:20:59. > :21:02.places don't have in terms of quality of light. Look at the
:21:03. > :21:05.happiness index, or they actually score quite well. What we need to do
:21:06. > :21:14.is improve those things that are wrong and cherished the things that
:21:15. > :21:17.are good. Claire Hanna, 43% of young people who go into higher education
:21:18. > :21:24.do so outside Northern Ireland and a lot of them come back. That is a
:21:25. > :21:27.real problem. It isn't just a brain drain it is a reasonable strain. I
:21:28. > :21:34.think a lot of people who are switched up by the politics here are
:21:35. > :21:39.likely to leave. They are unlikely to find fulfilment elsewhere not
:21:40. > :21:43.come back. It is about fixing the economy, affordable university
:21:44. > :21:46.places and the courses G1 to do. It is about the infrastructure so you
:21:47. > :21:50.don't have to just be in Belfast if you want to stay. It about
:21:51. > :21:56.attracting the 21st-century jobs that you want. Are you optimistic
:21:57. > :22:01.that those issues can be tackled? Of course. Things like Bragg says coal
:22:02. > :22:06.dust beneath the water line so we need to plan on that. But of course
:22:07. > :22:10.it is possible. 50 miles down side, the Republic is one of the most open
:22:11. > :22:15.economies and there are a lot of opportunities that is why many young
:22:16. > :22:21.people are going back, but it is also the quality-of-life issue. We
:22:22. > :22:25.have a good art scene, good social seen, but we need to facilitate
:22:26. > :22:29.those sectors. We need to reform things like licensing and we need to
:22:30. > :22:33.make people feel that they can live their life in the way they want to
:22:34. > :22:41.live it here. A show of hands. You are pretty much all involved in
:22:42. > :22:47.further education. How many of you are seriously considering a future
:22:48. > :22:55.outside Northern Ireland? More than half. How many of you are not
:22:56. > :22:59.considering it? Are very small number. The majority of people here
:23:00. > :23:04.are thinking about leaving Northern Ireland. Anybody like to tell me why
:23:05. > :23:14.are you thinking of leaving? What is driving you out of this place? I am
:23:15. > :23:19.thinking of starting a career in London because there is not the
:23:20. > :23:22.international opportunities here, especially after Brexit, all the
:23:23. > :23:30.action will be there. That is a decision you have made? I am still
:23:31. > :23:41.on the fence about it. In the middle of the back row. To someone that is
:23:42. > :23:44.more progressive, more opportunity, some people were the views of young
:23:45. > :23:49.people are taken into consideration and we don't live in the past. That
:23:50. > :23:56.is why I am looking across the water strongly. More progressive, Conor
:23:57. > :23:59.Murphy, how do you persuade the majority of these young people that
:24:00. > :24:06.their future lies in Northern Ireland? The reality is we do want a
:24:07. > :24:10.more progressive society. Three of the parties here have been striving
:24:11. > :24:14.for that over the course of the Assembly, and two parties have used
:24:15. > :24:17.a mandate to stop the progressive society. Progressive in this case
:24:18. > :24:21.means leaving Northern Ireland. In terms of the rights of young people
:24:22. > :24:29.to be able to live lives with the level of freedom. Because that isn't
:24:30. > :24:32.available they want to go elsewhere. What I'm saying is one of the
:24:33. > :24:35.difficulties we have in our political setup is that some party
:24:36. > :24:43.support progressive rights and some parties try to prevent aggressive
:24:44. > :24:51.rights. We... I agree in grading more jobs. We have kept the tuition
:24:52. > :24:55.fees low here. We support more places in university, particularly
:24:56. > :24:59.in the expansion of Mickey. If people want the type of society that
:25:00. > :25:05.is free and progressive, they want to live in a city that is part of
:25:06. > :25:09.the European Union, not some backwater within the British state
:25:10. > :25:13.as we will be post-Brexit, those are the sort of things that do impact on
:25:14. > :25:17.the thinking of young people and things that we fight for. We have
:25:18. > :25:26.different views right across this panel in relation to that. They are
:25:27. > :25:29.not orange or green issues. If you are identifying the fact that they
:25:30. > :25:36.don't want to live in an inward live in society, neither do we. We want
:25:37. > :25:41.rights. The Good Friday Agreement guaranteed rights. You want to live
:25:42. > :25:44.the European society which is aggressive outward looking, not a
:25:45. > :25:50.narrow state that is about anti-immigration and looking after
:25:51. > :25:54.the South of England. If people here feel that they no longer want to be
:25:55. > :25:59.part of it, those are some of the problems we are trying to fix. We
:26:00. > :26:03.recognise there are different views amongst the parties in relation to
:26:04. > :26:05.that and some people use their mandate to block progression, and
:26:06. > :26:13.other people strive to get progression. Robin Swann. The young
:26:14. > :26:18.people have the same political ideals of all the parties probably
:26:19. > :26:23.sitting along the stable to different degrees. It is not just
:26:24. > :26:27.about the political mandate turning people off. It is about Bojan people
:26:28. > :26:33.getting involved in the parties around this table to make sure there
:26:34. > :26:37.is progression in politics in Northern Ireland. It is about the
:26:38. > :26:40.engagement of young people hear about political parties and the
:26:41. > :26:46.process that starts that change. That is part of the point. Robin
:26:47. > :26:53.touched on some of the issues that we do need to expand. In the last
:26:54. > :27:01.few years it has just been a focus on cutting corporation tax and that
:27:02. > :27:06.alone won't work. It is also about people having a Freedom of identity
:27:07. > :27:11.and not having to second guess by area. It is also a fact that none of
:27:12. > :27:14.those things have been the Programme for Government, we tried to
:27:15. > :27:21.negotiate them into it and we were rebuffed. Are you satisfied with
:27:22. > :27:25.anything you have heard? Naomi had the nail on the head. It is not just
:27:26. > :27:31.opportunities but the progress of society that we live in. Paul is
:27:32. > :27:37.avoiding the question in terms of what matters to students. In terms
:27:38. > :27:41.of cuts to education, more students are being exported. A lot of the
:27:42. > :27:46.people here would share the same values in terms of the society that
:27:47. > :27:51.we want. 70 miles down the road in Dublin, it seems to be a more open,
:27:52. > :27:57.progressive society than we have. We are stuck in this cycle in terms of
:27:58. > :28:00.discussion about issues that we as student in young people we don't
:28:01. > :28:09.have a connection to. You are planning a career outside this
:28:10. > :28:13.place? Yes. OK. How many of you are planning to engage with the
:28:14. > :28:19.political process on the 2nd of March? Everybody in the audience has
:28:20. > :28:26.a vote this time around. How many of you are intending to use that votes?
:28:27. > :28:33.Pretty much everybody. Every single hand is up. So you want change
:28:34. > :28:39.agenda process. Did you... How many people voted at the last election?
:28:40. > :28:44.Just about everybody. A couple of people weren't here last May weren't
:28:45. > :28:49.registered to vote. Is anyone planning a big change? Is anybody
:28:50. > :28:54.going to do anything dramatically different from what they did the
:28:55. > :28:55.last time? You can give as much or little away as G1. Others persuaded
:28:56. > :29:06.you to do something different? I voted for the DUP last time but I
:29:07. > :29:10.feel let down. I do not think there have been
:29:11. > :29:16.checks on power as there should be, and I feel my vote is the last check
:29:17. > :29:22.on the perceived misuse of power. You have decided not to vote for the
:29:23. > :29:29.DUP. Do you want to tell me where you are thinking of voting? That is
:29:30. > :29:34.why I am here. I have to let you respond to that. He voted for the
:29:35. > :29:38.DUP and you have lost his vote. Hopefully we can try and convince
:29:39. > :29:42.you in the next half an hour of this programme. That is a big
:29:43. > :29:48.responsibility on your shoulders. Every vote counts, so the decision
:29:49. > :29:52.will be very important. For those that say that Northern Ireland is
:29:53. > :29:55.somehow inward and we are putting people off, that does not tally with
:29:56. > :30:03.our success over the past number of years. Tourism is now a ?750 million
:30:04. > :30:08.industry. More people are visiting than ever before, we are attracting
:30:09. > :30:12.international events like the British golf open, we have had the
:30:13. > :30:18.Irish Open, the Gironde Italia. Are you going to claim full credit for
:30:19. > :30:25.the good tourism figures? Collectively, the executive...
:30:26. > :30:29.Including others around the table, so you are sharing that around. It
:30:30. > :30:35.is easy for people, and the opposition will want to knock down
:30:36. > :30:41.anything successful. I do not think it is fair to say there have not
:30:42. > :30:46.been successes. Maybe Game of Thrones. Can we do better? Yes. But
:30:47. > :30:52.let's go out there with that optimistic approach that we can make
:30:53. > :30:56.this work. A quick response. Of course we should be optimistic and
:30:57. > :31:00.nobody is rubbishing tourism. You need a reality check when you ask in
:31:01. > :31:04.a room full of young people who live here, not visit but who lived here,
:31:05. > :31:13.how many of them want to build a life peer, and so many of them say
:31:14. > :31:16.no, that has to be a reality check for us all. We need to build a
:31:17. > :31:19.society where when we ask that question, most people want to live
:31:20. > :31:22.their lives here. I don't care of people go away for a short time, but
:31:23. > :31:26.I want people to want to come back because they see a future here for
:31:27. > :31:29.themselves. We have to reform Northern Ireland dramatically for
:31:30. > :31:35.When will Stormont stop criminalising women here
:31:36. > :31:51.Well, to me, both lives matter, for the mother and the unborn child. And
:31:52. > :31:55.our legislation in Northern Ireland has now been proven by research that
:31:56. > :31:59.there were 100,000 people alive today in Northern Ireland because we
:32:00. > :32:05.do not have the 1967 abortion act that exists in the rest of the UK.
:32:06. > :32:08.To me, we need to handle these issues compassionately when people
:32:09. > :32:13.are faced with difficult circumstances but I am very clearly
:32:14. > :32:17.a pro-life individual. My party is pro-life and we believe in providing
:32:18. > :32:25.the best care for both mother and the unborn child. What about
:32:26. > :32:31.particular cases of fatal abnormality, -- foetal abnormality,
:32:32. > :32:38.where there is no viable life after birth. Fatal foetal abnormality is
:32:39. > :32:42.not a medical term. It is an umbrella term. It is a term used by
:32:43. > :32:49.the media that wants to promote abortion. The medical profession
:32:50. > :32:52.refer to... I don't think the media is promoting anything, but rather
:32:53. > :32:57.allowing people to discuss an issue in this election which people care
:32:58. > :33:03.about and which is sensitive. I think we all respect that fact. And
:33:04. > :33:07.my party said in our manifesto we want perinatal hospice care so that
:33:08. > :33:13.people in these circumstances get the best possible care available.
:33:14. > :33:16.But I don't believe abortion is the best solution, because ultimately
:33:17. > :33:21.that means taking the life of the unborn child. But my party is clear
:33:22. > :33:24.that there are circumstances in Northern Ireland where termination
:33:25. > :33:29.is permissible, and that is where the mother's life is at physical
:33:30. > :33:33.risk, and also the mental welfare of the mother. In those circumstances
:33:34. > :33:37.we do believe in choice, but we do not believe in abortion as something
:33:38. > :33:42.that should be there as a demand, which exists in the rest of the UK.
:33:43. > :33:46.I believe Northern Ireland has a pro-life culture which should be
:33:47. > :33:53.protected and our laws suggest that protect that. Do you want to
:33:54. > :34:00.respond? I think it is disgusting. There is research by Amnesty
:34:01. > :34:05.International which said it DUP voters, 73% said they were in favour
:34:06. > :34:10.of abortion in some circumstances. I don't think the DUP even looks at
:34:11. > :34:13.those, never mind the rest of Northern Ireland. Amnesty
:34:14. > :34:15.International believes there is no right of the unborn child,
:34:16. > :34:22.irrespective of its condition, up until birth. There is nobody here
:34:23. > :34:25.from Amnesty International and I am not sure that accurately reflects
:34:26. > :34:31.their position. Let's hear from Conor Murphy. How do you respond to
:34:32. > :34:35.the question? I think the parties differ on their views. There have
:34:36. > :34:42.been passionate debates in the Assembly but none of the parties are
:34:43. > :34:47.pro-abortion, that is incorrect. The first point is your first point.
:34:48. > :34:51.Women should not be criminalised, no matter what choice they take in
:34:52. > :34:54.relation to this, and we have to have empathy and sympathy with
:34:55. > :34:59.people who find themselves in difficult circumstances. We do
:35:00. > :35:03.believe in the right for a woman to say, in cases of fatal foetal
:35:04. > :35:07.abnormality, in cases of sex crime, where someone is raped and find
:35:08. > :35:12.themselves pregnant, or incest, and we also believe women should receive
:35:13. > :35:17.all the support they can. We do not agree with bringing in the 1967
:35:18. > :35:21.abortion act, but we do agree in those circumstances, and the idea of
:35:22. > :35:24.criminalising women because of a difficult choice they find
:35:25. > :35:29.themselves in is wholly wrong, and we have no support of that at all.
:35:30. > :35:33.This is a very sensitive issue, and I do not accept that there is a
:35:34. > :35:38.pro-life culture in Northern Ireland. There is much more empathy.
:35:39. > :35:42.We have discussed this with people on the doors. People with strong
:35:43. > :35:48.pro-life views have a degree of empathy for people in those
:35:49. > :35:51.circumstances. What is your response to the question, bearing in mind
:35:52. > :35:55.that your former party leader tried to deal with the issue of abortion
:35:56. > :35:59.in cases of fatal foetal abnormality by bringing a private members bill
:36:00. > :36:05.to the last mandate at Stormont, which fell when the Assembly fell.
:36:06. > :36:11.Yes, and I understand that he intends to table that bill again if
:36:12. > :36:16.re-elected. We leave this as a matter of conscience for our members
:36:17. > :36:23.so we allow Assembly members to vote as a matter of conscience. I think
:36:24. > :36:25.the free vote takes it out of party politics and allows people to
:36:26. > :36:30.actually empathise with those who they have to deal with day by day,
:36:31. > :36:34.to look at individual circumstances and reach their own conclusions as
:36:35. > :36:37.to how they should vote. That is how progress was made in the rest of the
:36:38. > :36:42.UK, and I believe that is how it will be made in Northern Ireland.
:36:43. > :36:46.From my perspective, in cases of fatal foetal abnormality where there
:36:47. > :36:50.is no viability beyond the womb, it should be a choice between the
:36:51. > :36:54.mother and her medical team as to when the pregnancy is terminated and
:36:55. > :36:57.what happens next. If she wants to continue the pregnancy, she should
:36:58. > :37:02.have every support, if she does not, it should be her right to terminate.
:37:03. > :37:05.The same is true when it comes to rape and incest, because if somebody
:37:06. > :37:10.has been violated in that way, they should have the right. The other
:37:11. > :37:15.area where we have to be realistic is around the fact that our law is
:37:16. > :37:19.so out of date. Women can procure tablets and have an abortion with
:37:20. > :37:22.medication that they do not know what it contains, they cannot be
:37:23. > :37:25.certain of the impact it will have on their health, they take it
:37:26. > :37:30.unsupervised and effectively break the law. If anything goes wrong,
:37:31. > :37:34.they are then fearful about presenting at hospital. It is a
:37:35. > :37:38.health issue. Presenting at hospital and finding themselves in front of a
:37:39. > :37:41.court. I do not believe that society, women's health and a
:37:42. > :37:45.compassionate response is well served by dragging women through the
:37:46. > :37:51.courts because of the desperate circumstances in which they find
:37:52. > :37:55.themselves. This is tricky for the SDLP, Claire Hanna, and it is fair
:37:56. > :38:00.to say that you are a little out of step with your party colleagues. I
:38:01. > :38:04.am always envious for people for whom this is black-and-white, you
:38:05. > :38:09.are either a baby killer or a dinosaur. The SDLP is pro-life, and
:38:10. > :38:15.we are pro-healthcare and education and services that make it easier for
:38:16. > :38:19.people to have children. That is not a religiously fundamental position.
:38:20. > :38:21.It is fair to say there is a live issue around fatal foetal
:38:22. > :38:25.abnormality and the fact that the guidance was removed, which
:38:26. > :38:31.effectively let the genie out of the bottle. But you personally would
:38:32. > :38:37.support changing the legislation to allow abortion in cases of fatal
:38:38. > :38:41.foetal abnormality. Last February we said we need to see the clinical
:38:42. > :38:43.realities of women in those circumstances, particularly in the
:38:44. > :38:49.context of perinatal hospice care not being there. Personally, I could
:38:50. > :38:55.not criminalise women who are already having the worst experience
:38:56. > :38:58.of their life. A year ago we said, let's have that expertise, that
:38:59. > :39:02.report from clinicians, that takes into account the human rights
:39:03. > :39:11.framework. One year on, that has not been published and that is shameful.
:39:12. > :39:18.For the Ulster Unionist Party it is a matter of conscience for us. I am
:39:19. > :39:24.unashamedly pro-life, and any change to abortion laws, I will be
:39:25. > :39:30.opposing. You would oppose David Ford's private members bill as red
:39:31. > :39:35.last time. Yes. But others in your party would support it. When you ask
:39:36. > :39:40.a candidate where they stand, you know where the Ulster Unionists
:39:41. > :39:47.candidate stands. It has not been decided by a party officer for
:39:48. > :39:51.political advantage. Coming back to fatal foetal abnormality, from a
:39:52. > :39:56.personal situation, I currently have a congenital heart disease and I
:39:57. > :40:02.have a young son. At the first scan at 22 weeks, according to the
:40:03. > :40:10.clinicians at that time, there was a 90% degree of possibility of a
:40:11. > :40:15.syndrome with two or three days life expectancy. That is covered under
:40:16. > :40:18.fatal foetal abnormality. If we had taken the guidance, if the pressure
:40:19. > :40:21.we came under from some of the clinicians to accept all the options
:40:22. > :40:27.that were available, my son would not be running about today. That is
:40:28. > :40:31.the danger that I see in any change coming. But you accept there are
:40:32. > :40:34.other conditions and parents who find themselves having a very
:40:35. > :40:38.difficult decision to make and they may want to take a different
:40:39. > :40:45.decision, they may wish to choose a different path? And that is where
:40:46. > :40:50.there is a sympathetic thing that comes forward and why for the state
:40:51. > :40:56.Unionist party it is a matter of conscience for members to decide
:40:57. > :41:00.whether they support changes or not. Robin should never have felt under
:41:01. > :41:04.pressure or coercion. That is the point I am making. Coercing people
:41:05. > :41:09.one way or the other is not the answer. Allowing people to have
:41:10. > :41:15.agency and make the right decision for them... That is what we felt at
:41:16. > :41:20.the time. Let me finish. My wife and I are strong individuals and that
:41:21. > :41:24.was the pressure we felt. And I am saying that is wrong. That is what
:41:25. > :41:32.concerns me with any further changes. I appreciate it is a
:41:33. > :41:37.sensitive and personal issue. So it is important to deal with it very
:41:38. > :41:42.carefully. Louise, a final thought. Was there anything that struck a
:41:43. > :41:47.chord with you? Not really, to be honest. The only way we can pass
:41:48. > :41:51.abortion laws is if we have women politicians in Stormont. Were you
:41:52. > :41:54.impressed with Naomi Long, and the fact that her former party leader
:41:55. > :42:01.and colleague would wish to try to address the issue again after the
:42:02. > :42:06.2nd of March, if he is returned? Yes, but I would like to see more as
:42:07. > :42:10.well. I think women should have complete and utter free, legal, safe
:42:11. > :42:18.abortions under any circumstance. Our next question. It is about
:42:19. > :42:20.Brexit. It comes from Martin O'Toole, a student at Saint Mary 's
:42:21. > :42:33.University College in Belfast. Where will the money come from post
:42:34. > :42:41.Brexit for community groups and initiatives that the EU currently
:42:42. > :42:46.pay for? The short answer is, we don't know. We had ?500 million
:42:47. > :42:52.taken from our budget over the last five years. Clearly, the promises of
:42:53. > :42:54.the probe Brexit group in Britain disappeared the day after the
:42:55. > :43:00.referendum. So there is absolutely no guarantee that, there is some
:43:01. > :43:05.limited guarantee for farm payments, but no guarantee beyond that. That
:43:06. > :43:09.is why I of the parties here have put forward papers and propositions
:43:10. > :43:15.to retain special designated status within the EU. I think we need to
:43:16. > :43:20.ensure that the Irish government, which has a duty to represent EU
:43:21. > :43:25.citizens and Irish citizens defend our case. I can assure you we are a
:43:26. > :43:29.very long way down the priority order when this decision was taken,
:43:30. > :43:34.and we are a long way down the priority order when negotiations
:43:35. > :43:38.begin in relation to this. The decision to take us out of the EU
:43:39. > :43:43.against the wishes of the people of the North is damaging, not just in
:43:44. > :43:47.terms of economics, society and politics, but on the basis of which
:43:48. > :43:52.are in situations work. That is why it was disappointing that MPs voted
:43:53. > :43:55.against protecting the Good Friday arrangements in any Article 50
:43:56. > :43:59.negotiation. It is a very challenging prospect, very
:44:00. > :44:02.difficult, financially in every way, and there is no certainty in
:44:03. > :44:06.relation to what the British government will provide in terms of
:44:07. > :44:09.the freedoms we need to do business across this island, but also the
:44:10. > :44:14.support that the EU has given not only our peace process but in terms
:44:15. > :44:19.of money to build up the border areas, where I represent, to build
:44:20. > :44:25.up the infrastructure and support students, to support universities
:44:26. > :44:29.and job creation. There is no guarantee of any of that money. And
:44:30. > :44:36.very little prospect of any money from the Treasury.
:44:37. > :44:47.Paul Givan, you think Brexit is good. How do you think about doom
:44:48. > :44:53.laden scenario? There has been a lot of doom and gloom about what was
:44:54. > :44:58.going to happen after the referendum, including from the
:44:59. > :45:03.Governor of the Bank of England. These forecasts were predicated when
:45:04. > :45:07.we have the referendum results. Our economy is growing faster than
:45:08. > :45:12.predicted. We need to be careful that we don't talk yourselves down.
:45:13. > :45:18.The question is a valid one in terms of the concerned that exist between
:45:19. > :45:22.the voluntary and community sector. You are the communities minister. I
:45:23. > :45:26.know that where there has been European funding, there is concern
:45:27. > :45:31.amongst people who receive that. Do you accept that as a real concern? I
:45:32. > :45:36.know. I have met with groups and they have expressed that to me. What
:45:37. > :45:40.do you say, nothing to worry about? I make it clear that this will be
:45:41. > :45:51.part of the responsibility for Stormont to deal with when it
:45:52. > :45:54.allocation of funding. Huge amounts of money going to our communities
:45:55. > :45:57.and rightly so, none of which comes from the European Union. Whenever we
:45:58. > :45:57.have the block grant, being part of the United Kingdom, coming from
:45:58. > :46:11.London, then we will have to discuss how we
:46:12. > :46:13.allocate that. How do we do that when we don't have an executive and
:46:14. > :46:16.there is no immediate prospect of the executive coming back? All of
:46:17. > :46:18.that decision making will happen in London with Westminster politicians.
:46:19. > :46:20.Which is exactly why we have said the Sinn Fein before they broke down
:46:21. > :46:24.Stormont, here is the consequence. We can't get a budget agreed because
:46:25. > :46:30.Mairtin o Muilleoir didn't bring it forward. There are issues around
:46:31. > :46:34.Brexit. At a time when we needed to be focusing on the negotiations with
:46:35. > :46:38.Brexit, health, education, our budget, Sinn Fein pulled Stormont
:46:39. > :46:43.died and they shouldn't be rewarded for doing that. We need to recognise
:46:44. > :46:50.the concerns and address them. When Sinn Fein said you needed to take
:46:51. > :46:56.them Sarah Storey on RHI, you needed to take them seriously on RHI. Why
:46:57. > :47:03.it happened, whatever happened, it has happened. The two parties say
:47:04. > :47:07.all the things that we had to do, there have been seven months in the
:47:08. > :47:11.referendum and none of those plans have been put in place and that is
:47:12. > :47:15.an enormous dereliction of duty. It isn't just about the funds, it is
:47:16. > :47:20.where is the opportunity, the stability going to come from, where
:47:21. > :47:26.are at the labour and environmental protections? We let that campaign.
:47:27. > :47:31.We knew how damaging it would be and we have tried everything, our MPs
:47:32. > :47:37.are turning up at Westminster, punching well above their weight,
:47:38. > :47:42.and we are trying to draft proposals that will secure access to funding
:47:43. > :47:45.through enhanced north-south. Just to try and get as much of the
:47:46. > :47:52.opportunity and possibility that some people didn't value enough and
:47:53. > :47:57.campaigned against. It is not just since RHI that nothing has been done
:47:58. > :48:02.about Brexit, nothing was done of ahead of the referendum and nothing
:48:03. > :48:08.has been done since it. Conor Murphy was talking about the donation that
:48:09. > :48:15.the DUP received. We think in the region of ?250,000 and we don't know
:48:16. > :48:21.precisely where that money came from for the Brexit campaign. Can you
:48:22. > :48:23.clarify that? The electoral commission will publish the
:48:24. > :48:27.breakdown of the expenditure tomorrow and people will be able to
:48:28. > :48:32.see clearly. You could tell us tonight. Roughly 250,000? The
:48:33. > :48:37.electoral commission will give the detail of how the money was spent. I
:48:38. > :48:45.am asking you, can you give us the detail? Who was the donor? The
:48:46. > :48:49.electoral commission will be publishing the name of the donor but
:48:50. > :48:53.we have made it clear that this information will be made public.
:48:54. > :48:59.Will it be made public soon? Jeffrey is dealing with the individual donor
:49:00. > :49:04.and I'm confident the information will be provided. The name of the
:49:05. > :49:09.donor will be made public. Jeffrey is working to achieve that. You
:49:10. > :49:15.could say the name of the person, but you won't. I don't think we will
:49:16. > :49:20.have long to wait. I don't know who the individual is. We took part in
:49:21. > :49:24.that campaign, it was a national campaign. I understand all that. Why
:49:25. > :49:29.is it still a secret if it is no big deal? This information will be made
:49:30. > :49:35.public. The issues of donations, our party has made it clear, we want
:49:36. > :49:39.Northern Ireland to have the same publication of this information as
:49:40. > :49:44.the rest of the UK. Well let us know who it is. It will be published very
:49:45. > :49:49.soon and I am confident the public will be satisfied. Will you be able
:49:50. > :49:59.to contain yourself Robin Swann as Kuwait? In respect of donations, all
:50:00. > :50:04.of the parties here can I reveal who they receive money from. We are
:50:05. > :50:18.talking about one specific donation, which is a lot of money. You already
:50:19. > :50:21.publish yours, Naomi Long. One of the questions raised during the
:50:22. > :50:26.campaign in relation to funding was that there was an allegation that
:50:27. > :50:29.the DUP were asked for ?30,000 a month to support their campaign.
:50:30. > :50:34.Will there be transparency as well about the attack came from the same
:50:35. > :50:40.money? This is typical of the kind of smear and allegations. It is a
:50:41. > :50:50.question. You can clear it up. High is it a smear? An allegation about
:50:51. > :50:53.?30,000 to be part of a campaign question but absolutely not. I think
:50:54. > :50:58.that individual may back him that he'd been approached. People will
:50:59. > :51:04.put out fact and then it is betrayed in a different way from the reality.
:51:05. > :51:11.But the fact is that fact. Let the parties reveal. When is a fact not a
:51:12. > :51:15.fact? If we are going to talk about fake news and those things, I would
:51:16. > :51:20.be more than happy for Naomi to talk about fake phone calls to the BBC. I
:51:21. > :51:25.think we have talked about that it has been discussed a lot. I don't
:51:26. > :51:29.understand why if it is about to be revealed it can't be revealed now.
:51:30. > :51:35.Why do we have to wait any further? You know who the person is? I don't
:51:36. > :51:39.know. So you are as excited to know as the rest of us? Geoffrey is
:51:40. > :51:47.working on that and it will be made public. He has taken his time. We
:51:48. > :51:51.have nothing to hide. To be clear on the donation tissue, there is no
:51:52. > :51:55.work to be done. Yesterday Jeffrey Donaldson said he was working with
:51:56. > :52:01.the Electoral Commission. They issued a statement to say that he
:52:02. > :52:06.wasn't. Also there was no work to be done because of we want to publish
:52:07. > :52:11.our donors voluntarily, and cells and the Green Party do that, we can
:52:12. > :52:16.do it without their permission. Any of our donors who make that
:52:17. > :52:20.threshold, we publish. Can I also say that because of a change I made
:52:21. > :52:24.to the law in Westminster, all parties were informed in January
:52:25. > :52:27.2014 that they should inform all donors from that point that at some
:52:28. > :52:34.point in the future there are details would become public. You
:52:35. > :52:40.should have been advising you donor about that. The important question
:52:41. > :52:45.here is around Brexit and what will happen in terms of our funding. One
:52:46. > :52:50.of the real challenges for us in Northern Ireland is that we have
:52:51. > :52:53.special staters. Conor Murphy and Paul's olives in Westminster who
:52:54. > :52:58.were various MPs tried to lobby to ensure that we would maintain our
:52:59. > :53:02.stats in terms of Category one, while the UK Government were trying
:53:03. > :53:06.to remove that staters from us so we would no longer get additional
:53:07. > :53:12.funding and support. The problem is if it will be the GK government who
:53:13. > :53:18.decides how much of that remnant from Brexit money we will get. We
:53:19. > :53:22.will have to pay tariffs to trade, we will have to pay into the Common
:53:23. > :53:28.Market. We had a good deal because of the rebate. We run the risk in
:53:29. > :53:33.Northern Ireland of our example when we currently get 10% of all the
:53:34. > :53:37.single farm payment can enter the UK, if that is redistributed based
:53:38. > :53:45.on the Barnett formula we will get 3% of the farm subsidy. A final
:53:46. > :53:50.sentence from you, Conor Murphy. Back to the question about the issue
:53:51. > :53:53.of the funding, pressures in Stormont and what community groups
:53:54. > :54:03.are supposed to do while they wait to see what happens next? The charge
:54:04. > :54:07.from others around the table is that the responsibility for that lies at
:54:08. > :54:11.your door. The other parties before the motion which would have brought
:54:12. > :54:15.the executive time before Christmas and we gave a chance for the DUP to
:54:16. > :54:20.do the right thing over Christmas and we had no options left so we
:54:21. > :54:25.brought the executive time. If the other parties are saying they would
:54:26. > :54:28.have stayed in the executive, in her refusal to leave over the RHI
:54:29. > :54:36.incident, let them stay back clearly. The negotiations in
:54:37. > :54:40.relation to this... The negotiations will be protected by the Irish
:54:41. > :54:43.government to ensure that the Dail agrees that the North will get
:54:44. > :54:48.special staters and that is where the fight will be fought. The
:54:49. > :54:51.British government will not be defending our interest and we will
:54:52. > :55:02.not be hiding on the backbenches of Westminster. Martin, what do you
:55:03. > :55:07.think? You said you're concerned. Why didn't you ask people to vote
:55:08. > :55:12.for Brexit? The British government will continue to cut the block
:55:13. > :55:17.grant. You said the UK as a whole pays him more to Europe than the get
:55:18. > :55:22.out. I didn't ask about the UK, I said Stormont. The North is a net
:55:23. > :55:26.beneficiary of the EU, so where will the money come from? You don't know
:55:27. > :55:30.and you didn't know when you as they would campaign for Brexit? The
:55:31. > :55:34.referendum made it clear that the majority of people in the North want
:55:35. > :55:38.to remain within the EU. A lot of the parties up there have said that
:55:39. > :55:42.they support the special status. If you can't get that, in my opinion
:55:43. > :55:46.the only way for the democratic wishes of the people of the North to
:55:47. > :55:53.remain in the EU is to have a border poll.
:55:54. > :55:59.Thank you for asking the question. A quick question.
:56:00. > :56:01.Which current Stormont politician, not from your own party,
:56:02. > :56:19.Which current Stormont politician not from your own party or side of
:56:20. > :56:28.the fence, do you most admire and why. That is a really hard question.
:56:29. > :56:32.You need to be quick. I honour everybody who comes into politics. I
:56:33. > :56:40.need names. Most of them get into for the right reasons. Naomi among
:56:41. > :56:46.others and Steven Agnew and others that I find are working in the
:56:47. > :56:57.common good. All the best ones are in the SDLP. You are not allowed to
:56:58. > :57:02.pick Claire Hanna. Somebody has impressed me, someone from the
:57:03. > :57:05.Ulster Unionist Party. He is someone who has been willing to take
:57:06. > :57:13.progressive steps in terms of things he wants to do for society. I am
:57:14. > :57:23.trying to think in the DUP's career I would like to end! There are quite
:57:24. > :57:32.a lot of press of people and people you get to know. You get some people
:57:33. > :57:40.but you can strike up a friendship with. Claire Bailey from the Green
:57:41. > :57:47.party has impressed me. Claire Hanna. The fact that she is here
:57:48. > :57:54.tonight, I don't think any other SDLP member is doing as much TV or
:57:55. > :58:00.radio as Claire M this minute in time. I am impressed by Claire
:58:01. > :58:08.Hanna. You would like to be in the executive with Claire after the
:58:09. > :58:12.election. OK. Despite Jim Allister robust criticism, I find him a very
:58:13. > :58:16.formidable character in the Assembly and he certainly can put as points
:58:17. > :58:22.across forcefully and is very insightful. Let me say Jim Allister
:58:23. > :58:24.would be someone he had think is an impressive individual. You should
:58:25. > :58:27.hear Woody says about you! That's it from The View
:58:28. > :58:29.for this week. Our thanks to the politicians,
:58:30. > :58:31.our audience of young people and to everyone at Ulster University
:58:32. > :58:34.for making us so welcome. I'll be back with Sunday Politics
:58:35. > :58:37.at 11.35am here on BBC One, when we'll be hearing
:58:38. > :58:39.from the Greens, People Before Profit, the TUV and the independent
:58:40. > :58:41.candidate Claire Sugden. For now, though, from
:58:42. > :58:47.all the team, goodbye.