A GROUP of prominent young people from a range of backgrounds across Ireland will tonight discuss their vision of the island in the decades to come.
The online forum, chaired by Antrim senior hurler Neil McManus, is organised by civic pressure group Ireland’s Future.
The group, chaired by Senator Frances Black, came to prominence early last year with a series of public events aimed at tapping into the growing appetite for constitutional change in the aftermath of Brexit.
Those taking part in tonight's event include Limerick-based Zambian-Irish rapper Denise Chaila, Irish language activist Cónall Ó Corra and Senator Eileen Flynn, best known as a campaigner on behalf of Irish Travellers.
Completing the panel will be LGBT and women’s rights activist Laura Harmon and SDLP local government candidate Heather Wilson, who is from a traditionally Protestant background but is keen to broaden the conversation around constitutional change in Ireland.
Ireland’s Future secretary Niall Murphy said Britain's withdrawal from the European Union had caused "deep concern right across the island".
He said the business community was "nervous and unsteady".
“The recent Internal Market Bill passed at the British parliament has heightened that concern and caused widespread confusion," Mr Murphy said.
“When we add the issue of Covid-19 then we are in a very challenging position."
The Ireland's Future secretary said the panel represented the "next generation".
"They will be the generation that may navigate the country towards a united Ireland," he said.
“Young people’s voices must be prominent in this conversation – they will be the people dealing with the ramifications of Brexit and Covid-19 for years to come."
:: The live online debate will take place tonight at 7.30pm on Ireland’s Future Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
