 So, good afternoon. My name is Michael Collins and I'm the Director-General of the IIEA here in Dublin, of course. And I'm delighted to welcome so many of you here this afternoon joining us for this webinar as we hear from the T-Shuck on Ireland's ambitions and challenges in a changing world. I'm delighted that we're also joined by the Chairman of the Board of the IIEA, Rory Quinn. And I'm just going to ask Rory to say a few words if you wouldn't mind, Rory, to welcome the T-Shuck. Thank you very much, Michael. Good afternoon, T-Shuck. You're very, very welcome to the Institute. Indeed, you are no stranger to North Great Georgia Street. This time last year, you were the first of party leaders to start the political campaign that led to the last election. But today is a particular day for us because this is the first time that you have graced our presence as T-Shuck of this country. And we are very proud to have you here and you're most welcome. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you, Rory. Before I hand over to the T-Shuck, just one or two housekeeping points, if I may, just to say that I'll say, again, a very warm welcome to everybody. At the end of the T-Shuck's remarks, we'd, of course, take your questions and feel free to send your questions in. Either T-Shuck's remarks or as he's giving his remarks, we're happy to take them at any stage. You should send them in via the Q&A function that I'm sure you're all very committed to now on your screens. And we get to as many of these questions as we can in the time available. The T-Shuck will speak for about 20 minutes or so. Please try to keep your questions brief if you can and on topic, of course, as well. And as they would get to as many of them in the time available. And then asking questions, please also, if you wouldn't mind, identifying yourselves and your affiliation, if any. And just to confirm that this event above the T-Shuck's remarks and the Q&A are on the record. And please feel free also to connect with the event on Twitter using the handle at IEEA. And just to be aware, this event is also being live streamed. So T-Shuck, again, you're most most welcome to the IEEA this time virtually. And indeed, it's very, very nice to welcome you back. So the floor is yours. I'm happy to do that. First of all, I would like to thank you, Rory and Michael and the IEEA as a whole for the invitation to make this address and to answer questions afterwards. During my time, indeed, as Rory said, as leader of Finafile, I have delivered a series of speeches here which have provided our commentary on the many and changing challenges facing our country in Europe as a whole. Last January, in the middle of our election campaign, I used one of these occasions to set out our core beliefs about how Ireland should work with urgency and as a part of a strong international community. This touched on a range of urgent social, economic, political and environmental issues. A lot has changed since then. The impact of a dramatic global pandemic and recession is beyond anything we talked about then. And in truth, we have some way to go before we know the full extent of its impact. If we look back at the pandemic of just over 100 years ago, it had political and social impacts, which recent research shows caused a much longer crisis than we have previously understood. By any measure, these are historic times and the demand of us all that we step up and accept our part in responding. The need for strong rules based structures to guide how many countries behave is being challenged on many fronts. Economic and social pressures are demanding and at times radical reevaluation of policies which were accepted without question until recently. And core values, including the fundamentals of democracy, are under attack in many places. In the place of a genuine ideological dispute, we are now confronted with a cynical strategy of division and misinformation. The rallying events of last week in Washington are part of a wider and more complicated series of urgent challenges. So no matter how you look at it, it is impossible to look at the last few years and missed the fact that this is a historic moment. No short address could possibly address all of the issues involved. But what I would like to do is to give you a sense of how this government intends to act. How we intend to make sure that Ireland is an active, constructive and effective contributor to international developments. The challenges are profound, but history teaches us that they can be overcome. Central to this must be cooperation by states who share core values and the reinvigoration of strong rules based organizations. Before I do this, I want to talk about the current state of the pandemic. We are at a moment balanced between deep danger and great hope. Just as they have done in the past for deadly diseases like polio and smallpox, it is through vaccination that we will be able to put this terrible virus behind us. Figures released yesterday show that vaccination here is moving forward at pace and primarily limited by the availability of the vaccine. Both our hospitals are experiencing their most terrible weeks so far of the pandemic. The scale and pace of the increase in cases which we experienced has been well beyond anything predicted. Tough measures limiting public activities must remain in place for the moment and everyone will have to limit contacts for some time. These are dark days, or Barnabelle, or a gap of danger, but I know that we will get through it and we will see brighter times. And as I will set out in my remarks today, as we look to the year ahead and beyond, it is my belief that we can recover better and in a more sustainable way. This pandemic has shown in a very sharp way how interlinked our world is. No country can stand aside and ignore the global context for global social and economic inequality, organized misinformation, the erosion of core values, and the existential issue of climate change. We have to do more than recognize these issues. We need to contribute actively to global international and regional alliances and initiatives to tackle and to counter them. That is why Ireland puts such store in our international engagement through the European Union and the United Nations in particular. The fundamentals on which our future peace prosperity and planet depend can only be dealt with systematically and collectively by countries working together. There was a time when a statement like this would be seen as banal and taken for granted. At the core of many of the political and economic crisis of this moment has been an effort to strip this cooperation of legal strength and strong values. This government has taken up office with a shared determination that Ireland will not stand on the sidelines. With respect to all and an understanding of the limits of what a small state can expect to achieve, Ireland will be an engaged global actor. We will do this as a committed member of the European Union, as an active member of other international bodies, and for the coming term as a member of the United Nations Security Council. And this active and progressive policy is also what drives the approach of my government in terms of the island of Ireland and our relations with our nearest neighbor. The Good Friday Agreement is founded on the conviction that by working together on the basis of shared values and principles, we can transcend divisions and progress common interests. This is the premise that inspires the work of the shared island unit, which I have established, and I'll return to its work later in my remarks. While the pandemic has limited the amount of bilateral contacts we have had between heads of state and government, since July there has been a very active series of summits and discussions about core issues facing Europe and the wider world. External relations and global issues are becoming ever more prominent on our agenda. At last month's European Council meeting, we showed a shared commitment to moving forward on a range of issues at the same time. We endorsed a binding European Union target of a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 of at least 55% compared to 1990 levels, a crucial step towards a climate neutral European Union by 2050. Europe is rightly aiming to be a genuine global leader on climate action. We also addressed the urgent need to cooperate at home and further afield to tackle terrorism and violent extremism both online and offline. In what I hope is the start of a new transatlantic dynamic, leaders welcomed the incoming Biden-Harris administration and committed us to working closely with them. We will not agree on everything, but no serious progress on global challenges is possible without strong European Union-U.S. cooperation. There are too many legitimate national interests within the European Union to have a seamless common foreign policy, but I very much get a sense from colleagues that they understand that in this area we do need to be more active, show more urgency and renew critical partnerships. The discussions are becoming more open as well as frank and the spirit has been constructive. We will do everything possible to help this spirit to develop further. Ireland's ambition is for the European Union to become an ever stronger advocate and actor in support of resilient, open, rules-based political and economic multilateralism. This is the most effective and indeed the only effective way to advance our interests and defend our values. The coalition government which I lead is unequivocally Euro-positive. We want a Union which is more effective, more resilient and more committed than ever to the values upon which it was founded and has grown. Each of our parties comes to the issue of Europe from a different starting point. However, we share a determination that the Union will prosper. We reject the false idea that sovereignty is compromised by respecting common policies and the rule of law within the Union. In fact, it is an essential enabler of sovereignty. It was once said that a small country is one which has to worry about its existence. If looked at that way, membership of the Union has been an unprecedented act of guaranteeing the sovereignty of one's vulnerable states. Sean Lamass, my predecessor's teacher and as leader of my party, participated as a young man in the revolution which founded this state. And in his final years, he led us towards Europe in order to protect and expand the sovereignty which that revolution won. One of the striking things about the debate within the United Kingdom about Europe in the decades before the Brexit referendum was the constant repetition of the idea that sovereignty is a zero sum issue. We reject that idea and just as importantly, we know that you never let up in confronting those who spread it. Anyone who cares to look can see how the European Union enhances opportunities for countries. The single market, shared trading policy, free movement, supports for agriculture, solidarity in cooperation and facing challenges like energy security and climate change, and the countless benefits to our citizens from participation in schemes like Erasmus to no roaming charges within the Union. The picture of what life can be like without those benefits is also beginning to be revealed. The government's position on this is clear, could not in fact be clearer. The European Union is Ireland's home. And while there are those who would like to undermine the Union, Ireland stands with those who seek to strengthen and reform it. And this is why I strongly supported increasing the fiscal strength of the Union so that it can do more than limit countries, it can directly enable growth. Actualised Summit, Ireland as a net contributor, supported strongly, a shared European approach to recovery and growth. I argued for an ambitious budget and a new recovery package. I believe an even more ambitious approach would have been justified. But what was agreed is historic and demonstrated a learning of one of the many lessons of how the European Union was not in a position to more effectively help the worst-hit economies during the Great Recession. Since joining the European Union, Ireland has contributed and benefited greatly in economic, social and financial terms. Over the next seven years, we will contribute significantly more to the European Union budget than we will receive in direct allocations from the budget. But the economic impact of the European Union must stop being assessed purely on the basis of fiscal transfers. Every single member of the European Union gets more out of it economically than it contributes in direct funding. A huge element of the dynamism and strength of German or French or Dutch or indeed Irish export employment rests on participation in a strong single market and strong trading bloc. Millions of jobs and possibly trillions in taxes for funding social services have been enabled by the European Union. I believe we must start being more assertive in making this frankly unquestionable argument for the economic necessity of Europe for all members. And we must see the benefit to all of cohesion and the recovery shared by all. And I think it's also important to say that we must be more active in making the argument for free and fair trade across the globe. Of course, Ireland's focus on global issues will be especially strong now that we have taken our seat on the United Nations Security Council. Ireland has a proud record at the United Nations, both within its framework for advancing important policy initiatives and in our contribution to its vital peacekeeping efforts. We are committed to tackling global and international challenges in an orderly, rules-based manner. Members of the Irish Defence Forces have served under the UN flag with great distinction around the world since we joined in 1955. As I've said before, it is an enormous honour and responsibility for Ireland to serve on the Council for the next two years. In our election campaign, we promised to bring the values of empathy, partnership and independence to bear in our work. We will undertake that work in a spirit of determination, engagement and fairness. And we will work with all of our partners, including our partners in the European Union, as we take that work forward. Of course, the European Union of which we are a part is now a different place. Our neighbours in the United Kingdom, unfortunately and sadly, have chosen to leave. It was a decision based on a debate which I don't think could be described as having been informed by the reality of what was being proposed. After the past four years, indeed after 40 years of the impact of English Euroscepticism on the operation of the European Union, we need to move on and start again. This is so even for those of us who remain convinced of the error of the decision. When you first approached me to make this address, it was in November. And the immediate context you had in mind was the conclusion of the European Union UK negotiations, and what a post-Brexit landscape might look like from an Irish perspective. As we know, ultimately an agreement came late in the day on Christmas Eve, with the new trade and cooperation agreement now being provisionally planned. In overall terms, the agreement reached on Christmas Eve, together with the withdrawal agreement, including the protocol on Ireland, Northern Ireland, means that Ireland's key objectives in the Brexit process had been achieved. In particular, the agreements reached with the United Kingdom protect key elements of the Good Friday Agreement, including avoiding a hard border on the island, ensuring tariff and quota-free trade with the United Kingdom, and protecting Ireland's place in the single market. I don't think it can be repeated enough that the Good Friday Agreement was directly enabled by the fact that we shared membership of the European Union with the United Kingdom, and that the European Union did everything possible to facilitate and support it. We deeply appreciate the support and solidarity of the European Union member states and institutions, not least in addressing and defending those issues and concerns that were of particular or unique concern to Ireland throughout the negotiations. There is no avoiding the truth, however, that as much as we have worked to mitigate its impact, Brexit requires us to manage very damaging developments. These include considerable change and greater complexity, especially for anyone seeking to do business with Great Britain into the future. Now that Brexit has become a reality, we are seeing operational effects on supply chains and imports on trade between Great Britain and the European Union countries, including Ireland. We have put substantial resources into preparing for Brexit, including legislation, supports for business and other sectors, and stakeholder outreach. I want to take this opportunity to commend the many thousands of Irish companies, big and small, who have also prepared for these changes in the most difficult of circumstances. I know that there are some who are still working to familiarize themselves with the new systems, checks and controls, which go with trading with a non-European Union country. There never was such a thing as a good Brexit for Ireland, but we are working hard to minimize the negative consequences. I believe the agreement reached is the least bad version of Brexit, given the political circumstances. At many stages throughout the negotiations of both the withdrawal agreement and the new trade and cooperation agreement, there was an expectation in some quarters that competing national interests would cause the European Union 27 unity to crumble. There was undoubtedly support in some circles for what might be called the divide and conquer approach. Some of the at time almost feral anti-EU forces hoped that it could even unravel the entire Union. However, European Union unity and solidarity held to the end, not least in the real commitment to protecting key elements of the Good Friday Agreement. The Union's negotiating team, led by Michel Barnier, did as they promised and delivered a final agreement which protects our interests and Europe's interests. For this, we will always be grateful to them. We see that solidarity reflected not just in terms of the protocol in Ireland and Northern Ireland, but in the continuation of the peace program under the new financial framework of the Union to 2027, and in the Brexit adjustment reserve that offers support to member states and sectors most affected by Brexit. Brexit has also demonstrated the need to constantly take stock of where we stand as a country and what we need to do to progress. Our upcoming national economic plan will set out this new government's objectives for economic recovery post-Brexit and COVID-19, and a pathway to shape and build a renewed economy for the future. Our economy will be underpinned by a two-pronged approach. Firstly, we will have renewed focus on domestic SMEs, a sector which has borne much of the brunt of COVID-19 and Brexit, and which is critical to a broad-based jobs-led economic recovery right across our island. For this sector, while Britain will remain an essential trading partner, in the medium to longer term, we are likely to see an accelerated diversification in Irish export products and markets, a reorientation in certain supply chains away from the GB to your EU sources, and greater incentives for Irish businesses to remain internationally competitive. In 2021, the challenge will be to continue to support businesses as they make these changes. Secondly, we will work hard to maintain our global positioning as a knowledge-based country which is secure, rules-based and connected. With a deep talent pool, taking a lead in digital and climate transformation, and part of the seamless trading environment of the European Union's single market. All of this gives enormous strength, potential, resilience and sustainability to all sectors of a diversifying Irish economy, including our deep and broad multinational sector. Looking to this year and beyond, we continue to work to minimize lasting effects of COVID through the provision of labour market supports to those who have lost jobs or the opportunity to work throughout the pandemic. The Irish economy has the capacity to recover relatively quickly from the crisis once the circumstances allow. Indeed, with the vaccination being rolled out over the coming months, the combination of our access to European supports as well as domestic policy supports, elevated household savings and pent-up demand should provide an environment for a sustainable recovery of the domestic economy. We also have to be a strong voice for a strong and equitable global recovery, based on global access to vaccines and to finance and continued support of open and fair trade. I am extremely conscious that we must now write a new chapter in our relationship with the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom will always be a close partner. We must now renew and strengthen a relationship which for nearly half a century involved a shared structure of debates, legislation and so much more. Prime Minister Johnson and I have discussed this at length, and we are agreed on that important goal. We have committed to putting arrangements in place in 2021, to underpin the next chapter. We are committed to working together to develop an ambitious new agenda to reset and refresh our cooperation in the post-Brexit context. Working together to enhance connectivity and to tackle climate change to name but two could deliver real and meaningful benefits to all of our people. We are agreed on the need to develop structures for regular meetings at heads of government, ministerial and senior official levels in order to deliver on agreed programs of work on matters of practical cooperation. The common travel area between these islands is essential, and protecting its practical operation means we must develop and maintain a new level of cooperation. We must not become strangers because we missed the deeply daily connections we had in the European Union. We cannot just meet at high-profile events or to talk about distinct projects. During my time as a member of government, I always valued the exchanges I had with counterparts in London and the developed governments. This helped with policy development, with anticipating problems, and creating a foundation of trust so that problems could be prevented from becoming crisis. As well as putting in place a new framework for Ireland-United Kingdom relations, I look forward also to the opportunity to deepen Ireland's relationship with the deviled administrations in Scotland and Wales. We intend to develop distinct programs of cooperation which each of those administrations in the coming months. Looking beyond these islands, despite the turbulence of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, longer-term strategic work must continue. Even with the enormous economic pressures of the pandemic, we are pushing ahead with a program to significantly expand Ireland's presence and impact internationally. This year, we will open new embassies in Manila, Rabat and Keir, as well as a new consulate in Manchester, covering Northern England. Plans for a consulate in Miami are also underway. In September, we announced the design for a new landmark Ireland House in Tokyo, which will serve as a flagship model for the concept across the mission network when it opens its doors in early 2024. We are also finalizing works for new Ireland houses in Mumbai, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Across government, we are supporting efforts to grow and diversify export markets, inward investment and tourism. We are determined to strengthen our bilateral relations with like-minded countries and to support the alliances necessary to advance Ireland's interests in a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape. While the reach of our diaspora is global, I am particularly mindful speaking to you today that the United States of America, the home of perhaps Ireland's largest diaspora, will in the coming days complete the transition from the Trump presidency to that of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The eyes of the world are on this transition, more so than ever after recent events. In Ireland, we feel a particular affinity given that Joe Biden has been a stalwart friend of Ireland throughout his long and decorated history of public service. In my conversation with him in the days after his victory, it was clear that he is passionate about both his Irish heritage and the idea of Ireland as a constructive friend at a time of great challenge for his country and the world. I think we must also recognize the election of Kamala Harris as Vice President as a moment of tremendous significance and a positive milestone. In a world where all too often ideas of diversity and equality are being challenged, she will be a powerful new voice for progress. In spite of the appalling events of recent days and weeks, I have great confidence in the strength of U.S. democracy and its commitment to democratic norms and the rule of law. The U.S. has so often been a beacon to the world and for the idea that nations must always seek to challenge themselves and address their deepest flaws. It is a testament to the strength and resilience of U.S. democratic institutions that Congress resumed the process of certifying the presidential election results just hours after the dramatic events at the capital. From a bilateral Irish perspective, we look forward to greatly to a Biden presidency. A number of members of the incoming administration are well known to us, and we will be starting from a point of mutual friendship and respect. That is not to say that there will not be complex issues to be dealt with around trade and investment, around climate change and immigration, around peace and security, and that's okay. What is never okay is trying to pretend that complex bilateral and global issues can be solved by unilateral decrees. That is an approach built on sand. All of this brings me back to where all this starts, at home, on this island, because of course how we make our way in the world starts with how we share our lived experience on this island, our shared island. The government's shared island initiative is about harnessing the potential of the Good Friday Agreement to build a better future for everyone on the island, north and south. The goal which underpins and inspired the Good Friday Agreement is reconciliation. This is, unfortunately, has not always been evident in the years since the agreement was ratified by the votes of all parts of our island. And like the European Union, the goal of reconciliation is achieved through the Good Friday Agreement by working in a sincere, ambitious and effective partnership across borders to deliver meaningful improvements in people's lives and address common challenges together. The initiative puts a renewed focus on doing just that, so that as the agreement commits us, we strive in every practical way towards reconciliation. The genius of the agreement is that it enables normal politics, but creates extra shared space for old divisions to be overcome. Each of us retains the right to seek different outcomes to the governance of the country. However, we also carry the duty to address other entrenched problems. In budget 2021, we announced the shared island fund. The fund to which half a billion will be allocated speaks to the scale of our ambition and of our readiness to pursue significant collaborative north-south investments that will benefit people across the island. We are working now with the Northern Ireland Executive and through the North-South Ministerial Council to drive the delivery of infrastructure projects that we have already agreed. For instance, in December from the shared island fund, the government approved 6 million in funding to launch the delivery of Phase 2 of the Ulster Canal. And we're working to progress joint investment with the Executive in the A5 Road Transport Corridor and the Narrowwater Bridge Project. It's a powerful statement of what we can achieve, that where once our relations were defined by disputes, we are quite literally sitting down and discussing building bridges between us. We also want to progress a new generation of north-south investments, working with the Executive and with the British government. For example, we are actively looking at an all-island research program to bring together the capacities and expertise of universities and industry north and south. As we have done in the past in critical areas like energy security, I know we can deliver world-leading research and innovation that can support new jobs and economic opportunities on the island. We will commission a comprehensive program of research, working with independent bodies such as the SRI and NESC, and this research will contribute to considerations both in government and in wider society on how we can further develop a shared island agenda and harness the full potential for mutually beneficial cooperation under the Good Friday Agreement. And it's always good to keep talking, so I've also launched a shared island dialogue series to support constructive and inclusive engagement by civil society across a range of issues such as the environment, health and education, looking at how best we can collectively build a shared future on the island. Our shared island initiative is a broad, positive and inclusive endeavor which all communities and traditions can engage with in confidence. It is how we will take the next necessary essential steps on the journey to full reconciliation. The immediate work of limiting the damage of the pandemic dominates our work at the moment, as it does the work of all governments in Europe at the moment. However, this new government is also moving forward with an ambitious new agenda for relations on this island with our neighbour, with our fellow member states of the European Union and with the wider world. We understand the breadth and depth of the unique challenges of the moment. We are absolutely clear in the values which we believe must define how those challenges are overcome. Ireland will be an advocate for a strong and effective European Union, defined by democracy, the rule of law and solidarity. We will actively engage bilaterally and through international organisations to support open and fair trade, combat disinformation, protect democracies and promote understanding. Whether we are acting globally or locally, challenges are best faced in solidarity together and solutions are best found through partnership with pragmatism and with principles. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you indeed. I appreciate those very extensive range of issues that you've addressed in the course of your speech and they will provide indeed a very solid and timely context for our work in the IEA throughout the course of this year and indeed into the future. I'm going to take a few questions now, in the time available to us. I'd like to start with John Grain. I know you've addressed John Grain from the British Irish Chamber of Commerce. I know you've addressed this issue, but he wants to know how important do you think it is for us all now to turn our attention to rebooting relations between our two islands and what do you see as the steps we can take towards that. And maybe I just add a little writer to that myself. Do you think that there is room or the capacity or necessity indeed for a new institutional arrangements between the islands or is that already adequately covered under the agreement? Good Friday. In relation to John and your own questions, I think it's extremely important and it's on my agenda and the government's agenda to really focus on the British Irish relationship. From my experience, that relationship was the glue, was the honour-pilling, as you would know, of all of the work that led to the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, but also critically then that transformed the relationships between Britain and Ireland. As I've spoken to the British Prime Minister last August, we agreed that we would ask our officials to work on this in terms of looking at how we could develop new structures, and I think we will need to develop agreed approaches and possibly structures in terms of that bilateral relationship in a post-Brexit context so that the bilateral issues are nurtured, have energy, but that there's ongoing, timely, structured interactions between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach, and indeed between ministers and officials. Our officials are working with UK government officials on that, and we hoped to have an engagement in the coming while to cement that, that that's extremely important in our view. And economically, Britain is still an enormous partner to Ireland, and we, to Britain, we're the fifth largest export market for the UK, so it's extremely important that we get this right. Do you think Taoiseach, I mean, it's quite clear from what you're saying and what you've said over the last number of months that there is a great appetite here for rebooting indeed the relationship. Do you feel that that is reciprocated on the other side and that the equal sense of determination and urgency within the British government, led by the Prime Minister, of course, to meet us in this challenge? Yes, I do. I do get that sense. Obviously, as I said earlier, governments are very much focused on the COVID emergency right now. But even prior to the agreement, you know, the Prime Minister and I were in contact about this and the need really to push forward in terms of rebooting, resetting the Irish-UK relationship. And what was interesting, I think, in the finalization of the discussions around the protocol, for example, you know, relations between both sets of officials was very strong and constructive. And so the relations are warm and obviously there will be challenges. So I think there is a good foundation there to reset the relationship now in the post-Brexit context. Yeah, this may be a little bit granular, but nonetheless, it's from Gabriel Deniston, who's an IEA member. He says the number of young people coming south from Northern Ireland for third-level education has fallen considerably over recent decades. Would the Taoiseach consider seeking to attract a greater number of students from Northern Ireland to institutions in the Republic as part of the shared island initiative? Yes, we would be open to that. And there will be changes. We're watching the situation of Scotland, for example, in terms of the reimposition of fees, for example, on Irish students generally. That's going to create a new dynamic in terms of where students from North and South go. And I've long been out of view that, you know, working together, I think, of many students staying within Northern Ireland is what was important in terms of future developments. That's something we shouldn't do sight of. So the idea of, and I'm working with Minister Simon Harris on this in terms of partnerships between our third-level institutions. And so you saw the announcement in relation to the Erasmus program, being available to students in Northern Ireland, that is very, very important. And so I think stronger linkages between our colleges could be a very effective way in terms of future participation on the island and third-level education. But yeah, we were always open to students, of course, and then students come from Northern Ireland to the Republic, and that will continue. And part of the relationship will have to be understanding the needs, concerns, and strategies of the third-level colleges in Northern Ireland as well. And that we work complementary with those institutions to support them and enhance their offering and not in any ways undermine perhaps their strategies. You should get my meaning on that. And do you think they should come in? Obviously, Northern Ireland is in a very special position now, vis-à-vis the European Union. Do you sense that there's a willingness and a capacity there to work more closely with us as interests that would affect, as issues that affect them within the European Union come to the table in Europe, which will be present, and all the ministers will be present, but they will not be present. How are we going to, I suppose, best facilitate their unique situation? And I suppose, would you be putting in place structures, I suppose, to ensure that they're interest are best protected or protected going forward within this very, very unique arrangement? First of all, I think Northern Ireland has a lot to gain from this unique arrangement. I think, I've often said it before, at the IEA, that this potentially was, you know, in terms of its continuing access to obviously the UK market and the European Union single market that have represented a very significant opportunity economically for businesses and industry in Northern Ireland. And I still believe that. I think what's critical is we, as rapidly as we can, depoliticise the whole Brexit debate now and get on with pragmatic working out and operationalising the protocol and so on, and trying to simplify and ease the trading environment for all of the companies and businesses involved. Yes, we will do whatever we can to make sure that it's continued access to information to various institutions in Europe. Europe is very, very open to supporting Northern Ireland and underpinning the peace agreement and the Good Friday Agreement. And that was very evident in the peace funding where we got an increased allocation in the most recent round of funding, which of course, when it's multiplied by contributions from the UK and ourselves, will mean a very substantial fund now, the EU peace fund, up until 2027. So, I think we need to get into the practical operationalisation of the trading cooperation agreement and the protocol. That's key, I think, and I'm slightly worried at times there's ongoing political debate going on about the protocol and so on, but by some involved in it, while it's natural at one level, I really get a sense from all of the stakeholder engagements over the last year or two, that civic society in the north, people involved in agriculture, people involved in industry and business, they just want to get on with it now and try and optimise the situation for their own employees and for their own companies. And that's where my focus would be to be practical and help in any way we can. Tisha, a question here from Peter McLoone. It was an IAA board member. He says, Tisha, are you confident that relations between the US and Europe and globally under the Biden administration will improve? And in what areas should we look for real signs of improvement in the coming months? That's from Peter McLoone. Hi, I am. And I got a sense in my conversation with President-elect Joe Biden that he wanted to rapidly reset that relationship with Europe. And so the instance, for example, climate that he wanted to rejoin the Paris Accord day one is the language he used. And for example, he wants to rejoin the World Health Organization, which was music to my ears in the sense that I believe, as I said earlier, in terms of these, you know, the importance of multilateral organisations like WHO and others. And so I think we see, I think early momentum on the climate and maybe in terms of the Iranian issue as well as the nuclear issue. And so I do see a more multilateral trust coming from the new administration, which I think will sit well with the European Union, which is anxious to reset the relationship as well. But I also got a sense within the European Union is a realisation that it can't be just business as normal, that Europe needs to stop its game as well and step up in terms of its commitments. Interestingly, the UK, I think, could be part of that approach. And that's why it's so important that we did get a trade and cooperation agreement with the UK. Because I do sense that there's an opportunity here to have a counterweight to the other weights of authoritarianism that's emerging across the world and other forces. So I'm hopeful about that and confident about it. And T-shirt, how confident would you be that you'll find yourself physically in Washington on St. Patrick's Day or is that in the current circumstances, is that a level of ambition that's realistic? I think obviously the course of the virus would dictate a lot of that. When I invited President Biden to Ireland, he just said, try and keep me out. So I hope any lack of enthusiasm in this side, but I think we'd be practical about it early days yet. But obviously COVID will have a significant impact on all bilateral relations in our context and meetings in the coming way. Okay. The question here, just a journalist question, if I may, T-shirt from Tommy Meskill in RTE News, coming back to Brexit and just some of the challenges that are there on the freight side at the moment. And he wants to know, how would you respond to the concerns outlined in the letter from the Irish Freight Transport Association? They warned of disappearing supply chains, empty supermarket shelves and rising unemployment due to the impact of Brexit on trade between Ireland, the UK and Europe. Yeah, I read that correspondence this morning and I share their concerns. That said, we've employed an additional 1500 people to manage all of this and it really underlines the reality, which we have been saying for some months, that even a trade deal would represent significant disruption and would cause significant disruption. And, you know, we're paying us to say that the company is in advance of Brexit. And so what we're witnessing now is the realisation of Brexit on the daily lies of all of us. That said, we will working with our state agencies and with revenue do everything we possibly can to minimise the disruption, minimise the impact on haulers and companies on supply chains. We've been talking to some of our companies over during the week on this specific issue, and in terms of the new arrangements, the new requirements. And we're certainly going to work very hard indeed to help and to be assistance to our companies. The rules really illustrate the practicalities, the negative practicalities of Brexit. We're moving from a situation where prior to this we would have been dealing with about two million customs declarations annually to 20 million annually. And so does, and I would accept that there's been a lot of learning here for many, many companies and for many stakeholders in this process. About 70% of all goods that are hardest coming in and goods coming in is being green-rooted. So no delays there, but still there's a significant, there are significant issues there that we have to continue to address. Yeah, Tishik, just one here from Michael Patton from Dlanbia. It's not specifically a Dlanbia question, but it relates to misinformation, disinformation and the type of thing we've seen in recent months and years. He said, Tishik, we've seen democracy in the United States, and I think you refer to this in your speech, of course, but he says, Tishik, we have seen democracy in the USA undermined through misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and unfiltered cyberbullying online. He says the same trends are in Ireland too, particularly in online political discourse and misinformation, i.e. in relation to vaccines. How can we manage this challenge in Ireland? I think it's an enormous challenge. I think it's an enormous challenge to democracy and political systems who are challenged by it. Particularly the rapidity of opinion formation, the rapidity of mounting pressure on a given issue on a given week or a given day, and putting enormous pressure on governments and on parliaments. And I do think, both here and within the EU and globally, we need to really evaluate this challenge in terms of misinformation, in terms of the pressure that can lead to the type of incidents we saw at the Capitol in the US last week, and in terms of, in the Irish context, as Michael said, in terms of vaccines and that and other areas. So, and also, you know, you look at what happened in the last week, and whatever one, you know, what happened last week was shopping, yet two individuals can decide who would have a platform or not. And that's an interesting observation as well. You know, if you read a very interesting article last week, last night in New York Times, around this issue of an extended article on the power, the influence between sovereign government selected and major companies now, in terms of social media platforms, and it's fascinating debate. I'm not so sure that the leaderships of these platforms to be fair to them want to be wielding a huge power or significant power, but the reality is now that that is the reality. And I think it's, we need an engagement on that because democracy in my view is under threat. And our whole way of life is changing because of social media, and we do need to interrogate that more and understand it more and be in a position to look after our people more. And I think that that documentary, this social dilemma, don't worry if you're familiar with it. I think is one that most people should should should watch because it illustrates the new dynamic that is in our lives, individual lives in our families and in our societies. Coming kind of tight on time here, just one or two more questions if we may. One from Dr. Declan DC, he says, you said in your introduction that it's through vaccination that we will be able to put this virus behind us. He says he says health minister Steven Donnelly has indicated that four million Irish people could be vaccinated by the end of September. Do you think that's achievable? I do I think the European Union and could I say I actually endorse and I'm strong supporter of what has happened in terms of the European Union approach in terms of having a joint approach to pre-purchase vaccines. I think smaller countries would have been in difficult situations trying to compete with larger states for available vaccines. So this was a very fair way of doing it and in terms of having a broad range of companies to sign up with. So that's the first point. The second point is that, you know, our own capacity, we're doing well now in European terms or well up there in terms of the details, so to speak, although that can change in terms of the administration of vaccines. But we've had a low relatively low level of vaccines in so far across Europe relative to what would happen in the second quarter of the year. And the second part is going to be critical. And so the national task force led by Green in the crowd is working hard in terms of the logistics of the various phases of this operation working with Paul Reed at the HEC. I think you're doing a fantastic job. Really genuinely I say that from testing and tracing capacity being expanded, you know, to talk to very significant levels in the last week to the vaccine rollout and to coping with incredible pressures on our hospital systems. And so we have the capacity to achieve that. And I'm looking to mid summer for significant numbers of our people having been vaccinated. The AstraZeneca vaccine is an excruciating one. And we're awaiting authorization towards the end of this month on that. And that in itself would be a significant game changer in terms of ramping up the vaccination of our people. I'm just coming towards the end here, maybe just one or two questions, additionally, if we may. Just in Europe, I mean, obviously we're going to see big changes in Germany this year. And Angela Merkel 16 year term as chancellor will be coming to an end in September after the election, the German election that is obviously a party leadership change in Germany this weekend to be to be announced. And how confident or how concerned would you be about the capacity of European leadership post Merkel, given the fact that any new person coming into the job will inevitably will take some time. But will Europe be being a loss for the leadership that in your speech you identify obviously is clearly very important. Will you have a loss of key leadership at a critical moment, particularly in the post Merkel environment. But first of all, Chancellor Merkel has been an exceptional leader and a Torah strength with a deep deep commitment to the European Union and continues she continues to be a Torah strength at EU Council meetings. I've witnessed that a first time during the German presidency, in terms of both the French German dynamic, being at the heart of the new fiscal arrangement in terms of not just the multi annual financial framework but also the recovery fund. I mean I was really a historic development within the EU context, led by the German friends French access. I think that will continue I think President Emmanuel Macron is very very deeply wedded to that concept, and to the German French more more reflect and driver of continued European Union cohesion. And we saw it was recently that the German presidency again, both the leadership of Chancellor Merkel and French President in making sure that after 23 hours of a probably a long meeting at the EU Council we got agreement on the climate change targets and ambitions. And so they're really deep commitment, I think there. And I think the legacy. When we eventually get there of Angela Merkel, Merkel will be one that will be lasting. And I think, you know, different leaders emerge in time. And I do believe we can be confident that that access will continue that the German French relationship will continue to be at the heart of maintaining cohesion and an ambitious Europe into the future. And just maybe one final question from Ian Heaton from the from Northern Trust. I mean it's not directly on on what it is directly on topic I suppose it relates to the pandemic and the public finances. He wants to know T-shirt. And can the T-shirt please advise how he balances the immediate competing priorities of the pandemic and the median term impact on the public finances. It becomes sort of a difficulty. And that's something we've been endeavoring to do all year. That said, you know, we are in a position to borrow the necessary funding to underpin the levels of support that we're giving to industry and business, and indeed, the income supports to people throughout the pandemic. And in the budget that we passed last year, we put in substantial contingency funding to deal with the pandemic itself. So notwithstanding this third wave, which is at levels that we didn't predict, we do have sufficient funding put aside to help businesses get through this particular phase. The story of course is that certain businesses in certain sectors could be scarred for a longer term as a result of this. So we are worried about that. We're keeping a very close eye on certain sectors because we do realize post COVID that we will have to intervene to really support certain sectors to come back, particularly on the domestic side and the national economic recovery plan will be very much focused on that. The investment reserve fund is a substantial help in terms of the Brexit issues, but we've already allocated significant monies now in terms of post COVID recovery as well. And so we're conscious of this, we think we know we're very clear in 2021 we have the resources to deal with this, and we will deal with it. I think we, as I said, the vaccination program offers the balancing dimension now that we didn't have last year, essentially, that one can see light at the end of this tunnel. We're going to draw the event to a close if we may. I just wanted to thank you for sharing your time with us so generously indeed and covers which have asked terrain of issues in your remarks and indeed in the Q&A as well. I want to thank everybody for all the questions and beg their forgiveness for not getting to each and every one of them. I think we covered a range and obviously a lot of issues were covered in your speech itself. And even incredibly challenging agenda to manage over the coming months to set a course for Ireland in so many vital areas. So we want to wish you the very best. We at the IDA will continue to explore these matters to generate ideas and to bring forward the debate in whatever way we can. And in that context, next week indeed we have Natalie Luanzo, the French MEP on Monday. We have an event with the idea on Tuesday dealing with foreign direct investment and all of that and the importance of all of that. And then of course we have Simon Coveney, Minister Simon Coveney would be with us on Friday to look at more depth perhaps at some of the issues that Ireland would be addressing within our membership of the Security Council of the United Nations. So if you want to say, I'm very, very warm, thank you on a personal note as well as on behalf of everybody in the Institute. We really do look forward to getting you back or having you back in person in North Great Georgia Street, just as circumstances permit, we hope will be regionally soon. So thank you very much. Yeah, can I thank you, Michael Rory and all of the team and all the members. I really appreciate the work that you've been doing for so many, many years in terms of the furtherance of ideas, thinking and insights and particularly the ongoing support and giving people opportunities to learn more and more about the European Union and its centrality to our development and growth. Really appreciate that. And thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Thank you. Good day now to everybody.