24. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the recent UK-Ireland summit. [21382/26]

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Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle.

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I join the Taoiseach in his remarks about Prime Minister Starmer and all of the work he has done in rebuilding the relationship between Ireland and the UK, including through the UK-Ireland summits that have taken place in Liverpool and Cork. I welcome the €377 million announced overnight for the shared island initiative, particularly the €193 million for the Dublin-Belfast-Derry line. That is real all-island progress and the Taoiseach deserves credit as well for starting that initiative. Much of this funding rightly is for large infrastructure but some of the most lasting reconciliation happens at community level. On that point, in my own constituency of Dún Laoghaire, local schools and sport links had been created between Shankill in Dún Laoghaire and Shankill in Belfast. That is practical community relations. Will the Taoiseach consider whether the shared island fund can support more of these people-to-people connections, be it sporting or community organisations, on both sides of the Border, alongside its investment in roads and the rail network?

Sentiment score: 0.37