The news coming from Belfast is very depressing. It does not look like a deal will be done to reopen Stormont. It is quite obvious that a deal on an Irish language Act is effectively impossible. I suggest that we now have to look at other aspects of the matter. I remember moments in Irish history, such as the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the visit of the Queen to the Republic and the visit of the President to the United Kingdom. We need another such moment now and, in that context, I suggest we need to look at the east-west relationship. It is obvious that the two main parties in Northern Ireland are not going to reach a deal to restore the institutions at Stormont. I would like to propose five solutions. First, two seats are available in the Seanad. There should be a unionist person sitting in the House. I think that would send out a signal of inclusion. Second, a unionist MP has never appeared before the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which has been sitting since 2007.

I am a unionist.

Nationalist MPs from Sinn Féin and the SDLP have done so. I think that sends out another signal. Third, there really should be an aspect of the Republic of Ireland looking at associations with the Commonwealth of Nations. This would send out a signal that we mean business. If we want to have an all-Ireland soccer team, we should be able to compromise in these situations. Fourth, the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly has provided huge opportunities to parliamentarians from Britain and Ireland and the North-South Interparliamentary Association has been meeting since October 2012. It has gone under the radar and unannounced that MLAs from the DUP have been sitting in the Seanad Chamber for the past five years. We have sat in Stormont. We meet every six months. We need to look at enhancing all of these good and positive things. Perhaps they have been done under the radar because it was politically correct to do so. We need to send out a signal that we have met and we will meet. Fifth, we must look at the east-west relationship. We must set up an Oireachtas-Westminster group, along the lines of the North-South Interparliamentary Association, to try to break this logjam. It will not be simple to break the logjam in Northern Ireland. I believe a new east-west committee between Westminster and the Oireachtas is needed to break the logjam.