European Fiscal Compact

And of course, you are currently still vice president of European Movement International.

And that's a time span that's ranging from the Troika and the Fiscal Stability Treaty referendum to the 2013 Irish EU presidency, Brexit referendum.

And we had multiple European Parliament elections at different times and with critical issues at play.

So maybe just talk us through firstly your own role during that period of time and what you've seen in terms of Ireland's place, particularly within the European Union.

And, you know, I used to have this phrase and saying that no two days were ever the same.

And I can genuinely and very honestly say that that was the case during my time in European Movement Ireland, because I essentially had... a front row seat, I suppose you could put it that way, at every inflection point in Ireland's modern relationship with the EU, whether that is, and I mean, I think we can forget about that, but Mary, as you touched upon in your intro, when I took over back in 2011, the Troika was in town.

2012, we had a fiscal stability treaty referendum, the ninth EU referendum we had, and And then 2013, we were straight into a presidency.

So my early days, starting off as the CEO of- It was a baptism.

I mean, Italy is part of the European Union.

Uh, Italy has a lot of, you know, how to say, constraints with the EU from the European Fiscal Pact.

Think about migration or, you know, the Pact for the Mediterranean.

Uh, so Italy also got a lot of, uh, funding, you know, after the pandemic with the National Resilience and Recovery Plan.