23/02/2017 The View

Hello and welcome to a special election edition of The View.

With one week to go to polling day, we're at Ulster University's

new campus in Belfast city centre with representatives of the five

main parties facing questions from an invited audience

This time next week the polls will be closed and the snap Assembly

election of 2017 will be over, with nothing left to do

Those results could dictate the shape of politics

Tonight, we've invited the younger generation of voters to join us

and put their questions to the political leaders who are

Arlene Foster predicted it would be a brutal campaign and there have

certainly been plenty of claims and counter-claims,

accusations and denials flying between the parties.

But as we head into the final week, what are the issues that matter

We've invited an audience of under-25s to ask the questions

The people supplying those answers will be Paul Givan from the DUP.

Robin Swann from the Ulster Unionist Party.

So let's get started and our first question tonight

comes from Colum Mackey, who is the President of

What will have changed when we get to the far side of this election?

Ultimately, it will be for the people to decide what will happen at

the election. That is democracy. There is a clear choice in terms of

what the public have to deal with. We are putting forward a very clear

platform, laid out in our manifesto, about growing the economy, creating

the jobs young people want to be able to get, well paid jobs. We have

a track record of delivering on that. Over the last five years, we

created 40,000 new jobs. Unemployment has dropped from nearly

60,000 in 2011 to today's figures of just 30,000. Progress has been made.

To create the type of environment that young people want to stay in

Northern Ireland because they will have the right jobs. This election

was brought about unnecessarily and on the other side of the election it

will be for those returned to try and make sure we can put Northern

Ireland forward again and try to find the common ground that I

believe all of us want to do. But this election was not necessary.

Sinn Fein used the RHI issue as an excuse. It was not the reason.

Ultimately, they are more interested in the narrow Republican agenda and

they see this as an opportunity to weaken unionism. I think people

recognise that and the verdict will be cast next week. Essentially, the

election is a referendum on government. So I hope people turn

out to give a view in relation to that. If a public and agenda is

writes for people with ethnic minorities and disability rights,

then their RA lot of Republicans out there. But the things we have argued

for in terms of those rights, the things we have argued for in terms

of standards in government, which the DUP fall well short of an proper

investigations when serious allegations are made, these are

needed to ensure that a government can go aboard on the proper basis,

the basis of the Good Friday Agreement, voted for by the people

of Ireland. That is the basis on which we are in government. The

demands proper rights from people, proper standards in government and

proper behaviour. But what is your response to the question, which is,

what will have changed on the other side of the election? What will have

changed is the verdict of the people and what will ultimately change

things is how people vote. People who aspire and purport to be in

government have too abide by a set of standards. We are there courtesy

of the Good Friday Agreement, which gives us the situation to be elected

to. The institutions might not be back. That might be the cheap thing

to change, that the Assembly is not there. We are not giving up on the

possibility. The people voted for the Good Friday Agreement and we are

not giving up on that possibility. But there have to be proper

standards of behaviour in government and proper investigations which

actually can allow a degree of confidence to be restored. That is

the reason the institution came down, the RHI scandal. Nothing else.

That needs to be properly investigated and we need people back

in the institution on the basis of the Good Friday Agreement. What will

have changed hopefully is the government and the mood and the

sense of possibility that has not been there in the last few years

that I have been install mod, that sense of optimism and that we can

actually change things. Hopefully it will be functioning, not direct

rule, which is looking increasingly likely if the two large parties are

returned. It will have the partnership in visits to in the Good

Friday Agreement, because that is how you do reconciliation and get

partnership, by building trust. That does not happen when everyone is

circling the wagons in negotiations, but in working together and getting

on with things. Hopefully it will be substantially reformed, because

reforms are needed in terms of where the power rests and some of the

oversight mechanisms. Having an opposition was the start of some of

the structures but there are reforms to make it run more smoothly.

Hopefully it will be somewhere with good governance that spends our

resources a lot better than the two large parties have done, and

somewhere where policy moves on, everything from the economy, to

equality and legacy issues. We do not park them in disagreement but

try to move them through and change things. Robin Swann, could it be a

government led by Mike Nesbitt and Colum Eastwood on the other side of

the election? That is what you have been saying is a possibility. What

will have changed? If you listen to the first two contributors, if they

come back as the two largest parties, nothing will have changed,

because they both gave the exact same scenarios that have brought us

into this situation. The only thing that will change is if the largest

parties change, and their respect for the institutions and the general

electorate changes, and they treat each other with a degree of respect

and trust, and show that respect and trust to the electorate who put them

in position. Are you conceding that that is unlikely? If the two largest

parties come back, nothing will have changed. The question is what will

have changed. If the DUP and Sinn Fein are the largest parties,

nothing changes. Are you predicting there will be a change? I am

predicting it, yes. You are on the record saying that will happen? We

are trying to engage the general public, to get support for the

positions we are putting forward to be in government. Naomi Long, it is

unlikely that you will come back as one of the major parties, but what

do you think will have changed significantly on the other side of

the election, if anything? Let's wait and see who are the major

parties after the election because that is not a decision made in

studios like this. It will be made next week by the public in Northern

Ireland. They will decide whether or not they want to return the same

people, the same parties and the same problems, or whether they want

to choose differently and make a real change. That is an option. We

have seen people make massive change in government before. So there is

that opportunity and an election holds that potential. Do you get a

sense it is building towards that? Yes, there is frustration in the

mind of the public about how the executive has operated, about RHI,

scandals, the whiff of corruption and secrecy. But what I do know,

possibly the most important thing, what will have changed, we will have

spent ?5 million on this election and squandered at least two months

when we should have been getting the Budget together, planning for

Brexit, investing in our underperforming health service, and

we should have been actually tacking -- tackling the issues affecting the

services that impact on people's lives. That leads a small window.

Everybody is focused on three weeks to get a new executive but we don't

have a lot of time to play with because by the end of March we need

a Budget in place so that those who work in the community and voluntary

sector, for example, and the public sector, will know that their

salaries are secure, funding for services they provide are secure. We

will have spent two months in an election campaign that has been a

distraction from the work of running the country, so we need to get back

to that. Whoever we elect needs to be ready to do that job with whoever

else is elected with them. Regardless of who the largest

parties are, we will all end up in some combination, having to work the

system together. Back to the question. What do you make of what

the politicians had to say? And what is your sense as to what might have

changed and what might not have changed? I think people who live

here want to be governed by people here. They want to make sure there

is a system that works. If we take the election last May, people voted

for people to form a government, not for another election. Regardless as

to what happens next week in the elections, I think people will want

to see some sort of progress and something that works for the people

here. Let's hear from the chap in the middle of the second row with

glasses. What the parties here appear to have outlined are the

problems with... Do they not feel that we should move to a system

based on greater power sharing? So you think the system is broken? Yes.

So what should they be doing to fix it? To fix it, maybe the parties

that go into government should be working together more closely, and

we should see more focus on integrated education and housing,

that we can then bring the grassroots together, so the system

may function better. So a bigger commitment on the part of those who

go into government to work together. Yes. Do you want to add to that? I

think that is important. If you build from the bottom-up and work at

a grassroots level and you have integrated services, integrated

schools and everything, you can build a society which works for

everyone together, instead of having diverse situations from an early

age. A final comment from the young lady. Society in Northern Ireland is

sick of constant bickering. We need something that works better and

everyone works together. We are constantly seeing the Orange versus

Green politics and young people are sick of that. Do you think young

people will vote differently? I think they will. I think there is a

problem in Northern Ireland where it is like a tribal vote, you tend to

vote where your family or community vote with. I think we will see a

change this time and young people will defy that and vote for actual

policies rather than the Orange versus Green argument. So you think

there is change in the air. I think so. Paul Givan, young people are

saying quite clearly the same thing, there needs to be a greater

commitment on the part of politicians to actually work

together, not just to say it. They are valid points. You can have any

type of legal framework that requires people to work together,

but unless there is willingness to do that and co-operation when

problems arise, then whatever framework you have, if there is not

trust, things can breakdown. That is an admission of failure that the DUP

and Sinn Fein could not get it together. Eight months after the

election last time, we face another election. Eight months ago, people

did cast their vote. You are right, you are supposed to work through

their problems. Whenever we encountered problems before, Sinn

Fein cost is ?174 million over welfare for. When we had murders

taking place that the police said the IRA were connected to, we took

the view it was better to work through the problems. Sinn Fein took

an opportunity to exploit, for their party advantage, which is why I say

to young people who I speak to are voting for my party and recognise

our policies, that they are attracted to them, they can see

through the excuses that Sinn Fein are using. Let's put that a Conor

Murphy. Michelle said it was time for a united Ireland. You cannot be

surprised at that. I am not surprised but why introduce the

principle of consent into the context of this referendum? Your

party have been doing it all along, using the politics of fear to try

and drive people into trenches. Of course you have. What you are not

hearing from the young people, what you are ignoring, is the more

uncomfortable conversation. They do not just want to see people

cooperate in government, but politicians willing to make the

effort on the ground to unite communities there. You stood in the

Assembly chamber more than once and answered myself and my colleagues

and denounced things like integrated housing, as social engineering. It

is anything but. That is correct and they can check the record. You

described it as social engineering. At the end of the day, it suits you

to keep people divided and afraid because confident people, united,

will not be driven into voting out of fear. They will vote out of hope

and that is not in your best interests.

APPLAUSE I don't think anybody would have

stayed in the executive with Arlene Foster's involvement in the RHI

scandal. I would be surprised if any party he would have sat beside

Arlene Foster. She said you did nothing wrong and there were times

when DUP wanted Mairtin o Muilleoir to step aside and he didn't step

aside, so both sides can say that. In relation to the issues, I

understand people get frustrated with politicians arguing, but the

reality is we believe passionately in what we believe. We believe in

rights, some people have some people don't and we are on their side of

the people who don't. The SDLP and the UUP disagree on all of the

issues that we disagree with the on. They disagree on Brexit. But they

said they want to try to work together and find common ground.

Everyone wants to try to work together. There are some fundamental

issues that we are dealing with that are difficult issues. We have

stretched the hand out again for reconciliation. We want to try to

create a better society but at times you need to realise that integrity

is important in government and if that integrity doesn't exist you

need to go back to the people. Where was the Integra G in the employment

tribunal will never find you guilty of discrimination against a

Protestant, or Michelle O'Neill been fine guilty of breaching the

ministerial code? Let's hear from Clare. One point that has to be made

is that a lot of the parties that have just been an opposition have

been pointing out for years the lack of partnership, the Power exclusion,

the lack of transparency, the bad governance. We were told that we

were all enemies of the peace process and so on but if there had

been more collaboration because of dealt with some of these problems.

It is not sectarian to have a view on constitutional issues, or to be a

nationalist word Unionist, but when you only appeal to

those impulses and all of the common good sceptic nor because they are

the only buttons you're pushing and ignoring Baker's a common ground,

that is when it becomes a problem. We did have a rash of big gestures

and historic handshake and fair play for people step in light of their

comfort zone, but they never allowed it to filter down into things like

housing policy. It would also be wrong to pretend that there was huge

agreement on a massive range of issues between The SDLP and the

Ulster unionists? It is not that we will have the fresh start which we

were told was the be all and end off, then it was the end of history

and nothing else on that list was dealt with. We will compromise and

that is what politics is about. We disagree on things nicer. That this

because we are prepared to sit down and talk through the problems rather

than make the grand gestures, rather than push the institutions to crisis

point time after time. Paul has listed them, Conor Murphy has listed

them. So, back to the question, what will change? This last exchange

proves that unless we change the main parties in government, nothing

will change. This next question comes from Mark Curran is

particularly relevant as far as that is concerned.

What are the parties doing to stop the brain drain of young people

There are a number of things we need to do. We need to create

opportunity. One of the things we have talked about is our manifesto

is good prospects. That is about ensuring for example that we were

able to provide world class university places for young people.

We want all tuition fees at the level they are wrapped we need to

put in an additional ?30 million a year into higher education. We need

to develop apprenticeships and training opportunities and develop

further education sector and link that into specific programmes for

14-19 -year-olds to miniature people get a seamless transfer through into

their education. We need to be able to make Northern Ireland and open,

welcoming and welcoming society because that is how we will get

people to come here, the kid jobs here and how we will get people who

get their education elsewhere, and people will choose to do that with

the experience, to come back. If you live in Northern Ireland and you go

away to university you often find yourself in a much more progressive

environment. You come back and you feel yourself being controlled, from

when you can buy a drink over the Easter holidays, right through to

you can marry. I think a lot of people choose to move away because

they are sick of that kind of control. People want to make their

own decisions as adults and have a liberal, tolerant democracy. That is

Tommy rebuild the economy, that is how we create good prospects and a

good quality of life. Northern Ireland has some benefits are other

places don't have in terms of quality of light. Look at the

happiness index, or they actually score quite well. What we need to do

is improve those things that are wrong and cherished the things that

are good. Claire Hanna, 43% of young people who go into higher education

do so outside Northern Ireland and a lot of them come back. That is a

real problem. It isn't just a brain drain it is a reasonable strain. I

think a lot of people who are switched up by the politics here are

likely to leave. They are unlikely to find fulfilment elsewhere not

come back. It is about fixing the economy, affordable university

places and the courses G1 to do. It is about the infrastructure so you

don't have to just be in Belfast if you want to stay. It about

attracting the 21st-century jobs that you want. Are you optimistic

that those issues can be tackled? Of course. Things like Bragg says coal

dust beneath the water line so we need to plan on that. But of course

it is possible. 50 miles down side, the Republic is one of the most open

economies and there are a lot of opportunities that is why many young

people are going back, but it is also the quality-of-life issue. We

have a good art scene, good social seen, but we need to facilitate

those sectors. We need to reform things like licensing and we need to

make people feel that they can live their life in the way they want to

live it here. A show of hands. You are pretty much all involved in

further education. How many of you are seriously considering a future

outside Northern Ireland? More than half. How many of you are not

considering it? Are very small number. The majority of people here

are thinking about leaving Northern Ireland. Anybody like to tell me why

are you thinking of leaving? What is driving you out of this place? I am

thinking of starting a career in London because there is not the

international opportunities here, especially after Brexit, all the

action will be there. That is a decision you have made? I am still

on the fence about it. In the middle of the back row. To someone that is

more progressive, more opportunity, some people were the views of young

people are taken into consideration and we don't live in the past. That

is why I am looking across the water strongly. More progressive, Conor

Murphy, how do you persuade the majority of these young people that

their future lies in Northern Ireland? The reality is we do want a

more progressive society. Three of the parties here have been striving

for that over the course of the Assembly, and two parties have used

a mandate to stop the progressive society. Progressive in this case

means leaving Northern Ireland. In terms of the rights of young people

to be able to live lives with the level of freedom. Because that isn't

available they want to go elsewhere. What I'm saying is one of the

difficulties we have in our political setup is that some party

support progressive rights and some parties try to prevent aggressive

rights. We... I agree in grading more jobs. We have kept the tuition

fees low here. We support more places in university, particularly

in the expansion of Mickey. If people want the type of society that

is free and progressive, they want to live in a city that is part of

the European Union, not some backwater within the British state

as we will be post-Brexit, those are the sort of things that do impact on

the thinking of young people and things that we fight for. We have

different views right across this panel in relation to that. They are

not orange or green issues. If you are identifying the fact that they

don't want to live in an inward live in society, neither do we. We want

rights. The Good Friday Agreement guaranteed rights. You want to live

the European society which is aggressive outward looking, not a

narrow state that is about anti-immigration and looking after

the South of England. If people here feel that they no longer want to be

part of it, those are some of the problems we are trying to fix. We

recognise there are different views amongst the parties in relation to

that and some people use their mandate to block progression, and

other people strive to get progression. Robin Swann. The young

people have the same political ideals of all the parties probably

sitting along the stable to different degrees. It is not just

about the political mandate turning people off. It is about Bojan people

getting involved in the parties around this table to make sure there

is progression in politics in Northern Ireland. It is about the

engagement of young people hear about political parties and the

process that starts that change. That is part of the point. Robin

touched on some of the issues that we do need to expand. In the last

few years it has just been a focus on cutting corporation tax and that

alone won't work. It is also about people having a Freedom of identity

and not having to second guess by area. It is also a fact that none of

those things have been the Programme for Government, we tried to

negotiate them into it and we were rebuffed. Are you satisfied with

anything you have heard? Naomi had the nail on the head. It is not just

opportunities but the progress of society that we live in. Paul is

avoiding the question in terms of what matters to students. In terms

of cuts to education, more students are being exported. A lot of the

people here would share the same values in terms of the society that

we want. 70 miles down the road in Dublin, it seems to be a more open,

progressive society than we have. We are stuck in this cycle in terms of

discussion about issues that we as student in young people we don't

have a connection to. You are planning a career outside this

place? Yes. OK. How many of you are planning to engage with the

political process on the 2nd of March? Everybody in the audience has

a vote this time around. How many of you are intending to use that votes?

Pretty much everybody. Every single hand is up. So you want change

agenda process. Did you... How many people voted at the last election?

Just about everybody. A couple of people weren't here last May weren't

registered to vote. Is anyone planning a big change? Is anybody

going to do anything dramatically different from what they did the

last time? You can give as much or little away as G1. Others persuaded

you to do something different? I voted for the DUP last time but I

feel let down. I do not think there have been

checks on power as there should be, and I feel my vote is the last check

on the perceived misuse of power. You have decided not to vote for the

DUP. Do you want to tell me where you are thinking of voting? That is

why I am here. I have to let you respond to that. He voted for the

DUP and you have lost his vote. Hopefully we can try and convince

you in the next half an hour of this programme. That is a big

responsibility on your shoulders. Every vote counts, so the decision

will be very important. For those that say that Northern Ireland is

somehow inward and we are putting people off, that does not tally with

our success over the past number of years. Tourism is now a ?750 million

industry. More people are visiting than ever before, we are attracting

international events like the British golf open, we have had the

Irish Open, the Gironde Italia. Are you going to claim full credit for

the good tourism figures? Collectively, the executive...

Including others around the table, so you are sharing that around. It

is easy for people, and the opposition will want to knock down

anything successful. I do not think it is fair to say there have not

been successes. Maybe Game of Thrones. Can we do better? Yes. But

let's go out there with that optimistic approach that we can make

this work. A quick response. Of course we should be optimistic and

nobody is rubbishing tourism. You need a reality check when you ask in

a room full of young people who live here, not visit but who lived here,

how many of them want to build a life peer, and so many of them say

no, that has to be a reality check for us all. We need to build a

society where when we ask that question, most people want to live

their lives here. I don't care of people go away for a short time, but

I want people to want to come back because they see a future here for

themselves. We have to reform Northern Ireland dramatically for

When will Stormont stop criminalising women here

Well, to me, both lives matter, for the mother and the unborn child. And

our legislation in Northern Ireland has now been proven by research that

there were 100,000 people alive today in Northern Ireland because we

do not have the 1967 abortion act that exists in the rest of the UK.

To me, we need to handle these issues compassionately when people

are faced with difficult circumstances but I am very clearly

a pro-life individual. My party is pro-life and we believe in providing

the best care for both mother and the unborn child. What about

particular cases of fatal abnormality, -- foetal abnormality,

where there is no viable life after birth. Fatal foetal abnormality is

not a medical term. It is an umbrella term. It is a term used by

the media that wants to promote abortion. The medical profession

refer to... I don't think the media is promoting anything, but rather

allowing people to discuss an issue in this election which people care

about and which is sensitive. I think we all respect that fact. And

my party said in our manifesto we want perinatal hospice care so that

people in these circumstances get the best possible care available.

But I don't believe abortion is the best solution, because ultimately

that means taking the life of the unborn child. But my party is clear

that there are circumstances in Northern Ireland where termination

is permissible, and that is where the mother's life is at physical

risk, and also the mental welfare of the mother. In those circumstances

we do believe in choice, but we do not believe in abortion as something

that should be there as a demand, which exists in the rest of the UK.

I believe Northern Ireland has a pro-life culture which should be

protected and our laws suggest that protect that. Do you want to

respond? I think it is disgusting. There is research by Amnesty

International which said it DUP voters, 73% said they were in favour

of abortion in some circumstances. I don't think the DUP even looks at

those, never mind the rest of Northern Ireland. Amnesty

International believes there is no right of the unborn child,

irrespective of its condition, up until birth. There is nobody here

from Amnesty International and I am not sure that accurately reflects

their position. Let's hear from Conor Murphy. How do you respond to

the question? I think the parties differ on their views. There have

been passionate debates in the Assembly but none of the parties are

pro-abortion, that is incorrect. The first point is your first point.

Women should not be criminalised, no matter what choice they take in

relation to this, and we have to have empathy and sympathy with

people who find themselves in difficult circumstances. We do

believe in the right for a woman to say, in cases of fatal foetal

abnormality, in cases of sex crime, where someone is raped and find

themselves pregnant, or incest, and we also believe women should receive

all the support they can. We do not agree with bringing in the 1967

abortion act, but we do agree in those circumstances, and the idea of

criminalising women because of a difficult choice they find

themselves in is wholly wrong, and we have no support of that at all.

This is a very sensitive issue, and I do not accept that there is a

pro-life culture in Northern Ireland. There is much more empathy.

We have discussed this with people on the doors. People with strong

pro-life views have a degree of empathy for people in those

circumstances. What is your response to the question, bearing in mind

that your former party leader tried to deal with the issue of abortion

in cases of fatal foetal abnormality by bringing a private members bill

to the last mandate at Stormont, which fell when the Assembly fell.

Yes, and I understand that he intends to table that bill again if

re-elected. We leave this as a matter of conscience for our members

so we allow Assembly members to vote as a matter of conscience. I think

the free vote takes it out of party politics and allows people to

actually empathise with those who they have to deal with day by day,

to look at individual circumstances and reach their own conclusions as

to how they should vote. That is how progress was made in the rest of the

UK, and I believe that is how it will be made in Northern Ireland.

From my perspective, in cases of fatal foetal abnormality where there

is no viability beyond the womb, it should be a choice between the

mother and her medical team as to when the pregnancy is terminated and

what happens next. If she wants to continue the pregnancy, she should

have every support, if she does not, it should be her right to terminate.

The same is true when it comes to rape and incest, because if somebody

has been violated in that way, they should have the right. The other

area where we have to be realistic is around the fact that our law is

so out of date. Women can procure tablets and have an abortion with

medication that they do not know what it contains, they cannot be

certain of the impact it will have on their health, they take it

unsupervised and effectively break the law. If anything goes wrong,

they are then fearful about presenting at hospital. It is a

health issue. Presenting at hospital and finding themselves in front of a

court. I do not believe that society, women's health and a

compassionate response is well served by dragging women through the

courts because of the desperate circumstances in which they find

themselves. This is tricky for the SDLP, Claire Hanna, and it is fair

to say that you are a little out of step with your party colleagues. I

am always envious for people for whom this is black-and-white, you

are either a baby killer or a dinosaur. The SDLP is pro-life, and

we are pro-healthcare and education and services that make it easier for

people to have children. That is not a religiously fundamental position.

It is fair to say there is a live issue around fatal foetal

abnormality and the fact that the guidance was removed, which

effectively let the genie out of the bottle. But you personally would

support changing the legislation to allow abortion in cases of fatal

foetal abnormality. Last February we said we need to see the clinical

realities of women in those circumstances, particularly in the

context of perinatal hospice care not being there. Personally, I could

not criminalise women who are already having the worst experience

of their life. A year ago we said, let's have that expertise, that

report from clinicians, that takes into account the human rights

framework. One year on, that has not been published and that is shameful.

For the Ulster Unionist Party it is a matter of conscience for us. I am

unashamedly pro-life, and any change to abortion laws, I will be

opposing. You would oppose David Ford's private members bill as red

last time. Yes. But others in your party would support it. When you ask

a candidate where they stand, you know where the Ulster Unionists

candidate stands. It has not been decided by a party officer for

political advantage. Coming back to fatal foetal abnormality, from a

personal situation, I currently have a congenital heart disease and I

have a young son. At the first scan at 22 weeks, according to the

clinicians at that time, there was a 90% degree of possibility of a

syndrome with two or three days life expectancy. That is covered under

fatal foetal abnormality. If we had taken the guidance, if the pressure

we came under from some of the clinicians to accept all the options

that were available, my son would not be running about today. That is

the danger that I see in any change coming. But you accept there are

other conditions and parents who find themselves having a very

difficult decision to make and they may want to take a different

decision, they may wish to choose a different path? And that is where

there is a sympathetic thing that comes forward and why for the state

Unionist party it is a matter of conscience for members to decide

whether they support changes or not. Robin should never have felt under

pressure or coercion. That is the point I am making. Coercing people

one way or the other is not the answer. Allowing people to have

agency and make the right decision for them... That is what we felt at

the time. Let me finish. My wife and I are strong individuals and that

was the pressure we felt. And I am saying that is wrong. That is what

concerns me with any further changes. I appreciate it is a

sensitive and personal issue. So it is important to deal with it very

carefully. Louise, a final thought. Was there anything that struck a

chord with you? Not really, to be honest. The only way we can pass

abortion laws is if we have women politicians in Stormont. Were you

impressed with Naomi Long, and the fact that her former party leader

and colleague would wish to try to address the issue again after the

2nd of March, if he is returned? Yes, but I would like to see more as

well. I think women should have complete and utter free, legal, safe

abortions under any circumstance. Our next question. It is about

Brexit. It comes from Martin O'Toole, a student at Saint Mary 's

University College in Belfast. Where will the money come from post

Brexit for community groups and initiatives that the EU currently

pay for? The short answer is, we don't know. We had ?500 million

taken from our budget over the last five years. Clearly, the promises of

the probe Brexit group in Britain disappeared the day after the

referendum. So there is absolutely no guarantee that, there is some

limited guarantee for farm payments, but no guarantee beyond that. That

is why I of the parties here have put forward papers and propositions

to retain special designated status within the EU. I think we need to

ensure that the Irish government, which has a duty to represent EU

citizens and Irish citizens defend our case. I can assure you we are a

very long way down the priority order when this decision was taken,

and we are a long way down the priority order when negotiations

begin in relation to this. The decision to take us out of the EU

against the wishes of the people of the North is damaging, not just in

terms of economics, society and politics, but on the basis of which

are in situations work. That is why it was disappointing that MPs voted

against protecting the Good Friday arrangements in any Article 50

negotiation. It is a very challenging prospect, very

difficult, financially in every way, and there is no certainty in

relation to what the British government will provide in terms of

the freedoms we need to do business across this island, but also the

support that the EU has given not only our peace process but in terms

of money to build up the border areas, where I represent, to build

up the infrastructure and support students, to support universities

and job creation. There is no guarantee of any of that money. And

very little prospect of any money from the Treasury.

Paul Givan, you think Brexit is good. How do you think about doom

laden scenario? There has been a lot of doom and gloom about what was

going to happen after the referendum, including from the

Governor of the Bank of England. These forecasts were predicated when

we have the referendum results. Our economy is growing faster than

predicted. We need to be careful that we don't talk yourselves down.

The question is a valid one in terms of the concerned that exist between

the voluntary and community sector. You are the communities minister. I

know that where there has been European funding, there is concern

amongst people who receive that. Do you accept that as a real concern? I

know. I have met with groups and they have expressed that to me. What

do you say, nothing to worry about? I make it clear that this will be

part of the responsibility for Stormont to deal with when it

allocation of funding. Huge amounts of money going to our communities

and rightly so, none of which comes from the European Union. Whenever we

have the block grant, being part of the United Kingdom, coming from

London, then we will have to discuss how we

allocate that. How do we do that when we don't have an executive and

there is no immediate prospect of the executive coming back? All of

that decision making will happen in London with Westminster politicians.

Which is exactly why we have said the Sinn Fein before they broke down

Stormont, here is the consequence. We can't get a budget agreed because

Mairtin o Muilleoir didn't bring it forward. There are issues around

Brexit. At a time when we needed to be focusing on the negotiations with

Brexit, health, education, our budget, Sinn Fein pulled Stormont

died and they shouldn't be rewarded for doing that. We need to recognise

the concerns and address them. When Sinn Fein said you needed to take

them Sarah Storey on RHI, you needed to take them seriously on RHI. Why

it happened, whatever happened, it has happened. The two parties say

all the things that we had to do, there have been seven months in the

referendum and none of those plans have been put in place and that is

an enormous dereliction of duty. It isn't just about the funds, it is

where is the opportunity, the stability going to come from, where

are at the labour and environmental protections? We let that campaign.

We knew how damaging it would be and we have tried everything, our MPs

are turning up at Westminster, punching well above their weight,

and we are trying to draft proposals that will secure access to funding

through enhanced north-south. Just to try and get as much of the

opportunity and possibility that some people didn't value enough and

campaigned against. It is not just since RHI that nothing has been done

about Brexit, nothing was done of ahead of the referendum and nothing

has been done since it. Conor Murphy was talking about the donation that

the DUP received. We think in the region of ?250,000 and we don't know

precisely where that money came from for the Brexit campaign. Can you

clarify that? The electoral commission will publish the

breakdown of the expenditure tomorrow and people will be able to

see clearly. You could tell us tonight. Roughly 250,000? The

electoral commission will give the detail of how the money was spent. I

am asking you, can you give us the detail? Who was the donor? The

electoral commission will be publishing the name of the donor but

we have made it clear that this information will be made public.

Will it be made public soon? Jeffrey is dealing with the individual donor

and I'm confident the information will be provided. The name of the

donor will be made public. Jeffrey is working to achieve that. You

could say the name of the person, but you won't. I don't think we will

have long to wait. I don't know who the individual is. We took part in

that campaign, it was a national campaign. I understand all that. Why

is it still a secret if it is no big deal? This information will be made

public. The issues of donations, our party has made it clear, we want

Northern Ireland to have the same publication of this information as

the rest of the UK. Well let us know who it is. It will be published very

soon and I am confident the public will be satisfied. Will you be able

to contain yourself Robin Swann as Kuwait? In respect of donations, all

of the parties here can I reveal who they receive money from. We are

talking about one specific donation, which is a lot of money. You already

publish yours, Naomi Long. One of the questions raised during the

campaign in relation to funding was that there was an allegation that

the DUP were asked for ?30,000 a month to support their campaign.

Will there be transparency as well about the attack came from the same

money? This is typical of the kind of smear and allegations. It is a

question. You can clear it up. High is it a smear? An allegation about

?30,000 to be part of a campaign question but absolutely not. I think

that individual may back him that he'd been approached. People will

put out fact and then it is betrayed in a different way from the reality.

But the fact is that fact. Let the parties reveal. When is a fact not a

fact? If we are going to talk about fake news and those things, I would

be more than happy for Naomi to talk about fake phone calls to the BBC. I

think we have talked about that it has been discussed a lot. I don't

understand why if it is about to be revealed it can't be revealed now.

Why do we have to wait any further? You know who the person is? I don't

know. So you are as excited to know as the rest of us? Geoffrey is

working on that and it will be made public. He has taken his time. We

have nothing to hide. To be clear on the donation tissue, there is no

work to be done. Yesterday Jeffrey Donaldson said he was working with

the Electoral Commission. They issued a statement to say that he

wasn't. Also there was no work to be done because of we want to publish

our donors voluntarily, and cells and the Green Party do that, we can

do it without their permission. Any of our donors who make that

threshold, we publish. Can I also say that because of a change I made

to the law in Westminster, all parties were informed in January

2014 that they should inform all donors from that point that at some

point in the future there are details would become public. You

should have been advising you donor about that. The important question

here is around Brexit and what will happen in terms of our funding. One

of the real challenges for us in Northern Ireland is that we have

special staters. Conor Murphy and Paul's olives in Westminster who

were various MPs tried to lobby to ensure that we would maintain our

stats in terms of Category one, while the UK Government were trying

to remove that staters from us so we would no longer get additional

funding and support. The problem is if it will be the GK government who

decides how much of that remnant from Brexit money we will get. We

will have to pay tariffs to trade, we will have to pay into the Common

Market. We had a good deal because of the rebate. We run the risk in

Northern Ireland of our example when we currently get 10% of all the

single farm payment can enter the UK, if that is redistributed based

on the Barnett formula we will get 3% of the farm subsidy. A final

sentence from you, Conor Murphy. Back to the question about the issue

of the funding, pressures in Stormont and what community groups

are supposed to do while they wait to see what happens next? The charge

from others around the table is that the responsibility for that lies at

your door. The other parties before the motion which would have brought

the executive time before Christmas and we gave a chance for the DUP to

do the right thing over Christmas and we had no options left so we

brought the executive time. If the other parties are saying they would

have stayed in the executive, in her refusal to leave over the RHI

incident, let them stay back clearly. The negotiations in

relation to this... The negotiations will be protected by the Irish

government to ensure that the Dail agrees that the North will get

special staters and that is where the fight will be fought. The

British government will not be defending our interest and we will

not be hiding on the backbenches of Westminster. Martin, what do you

think? You said you're concerned. Why didn't you ask people to vote

for Brexit? The British government will continue to cut the block

grant. You said the UK as a whole pays him more to Europe than the get

out. I didn't ask about the UK, I said Stormont. The North is a net

beneficiary of the EU, so where will the money come from? You don't know

and you didn't know when you as they would campaign for Brexit? The

referendum made it clear that the majority of people in the North want

to remain within the EU. A lot of the parties up there have said that

they support the special status. If you can't get that, in my opinion

the only way for the democratic wishes of the people of the North to

remain in the EU is to have a border poll.

Thank you for asking the question. A quick question.

Which current Stormont politician, not from your own party,

Which current Stormont politician not from your own party or side of

the fence, do you most admire and why. That is a really hard question.

You need to be quick. I honour everybody who comes into politics. I

need names. Most of them get into for the right reasons. Naomi among

others and Steven Agnew and others that I find are working in the

common good. All the best ones are in the SDLP. You are not allowed to

pick Claire Hanna. Somebody has impressed me, someone from the

Ulster Unionist Party. He is someone who has been willing to take

progressive steps in terms of things he wants to do for society. I am

trying to think in the DUP's career I would like to end! There are quite

a lot of press of people and people you get to know. You get some people

but you can strike up a friendship with. Claire Bailey from the Green

party has impressed me. Claire Hanna. The fact that she is here

tonight, I don't think any other SDLP member is doing as much TV or

radio as Claire M this minute in time. I am impressed by Claire

Hanna. You would like to be in the executive with Claire after the

election. OK. Despite Jim Allister robust criticism, I find him a very

formidable character in the Assembly and he certainly can put as points

across forcefully and is very insightful. Let me say Jim Allister

would be someone he had think is an impressive individual. You should

hear Woody says about you! That's it from The View

for this week. Our thanks to the politicians,

our audience of young people and to everyone at Ulster University

for making us so welcome. I'll be back with Sunday Politics

at 11.35am here on BBC One, when we'll be hearing

from the Greens, People Before Profit, the TUV and the independent

candidate Claire Sugden. For now, though, from

all the team, goodbye.