Eoghan Harris (Independent)

That stemmed from a disease that I call the sense of entitlement all over the national bourgeoisie, predominantly a Catholic bourgeoisie who seem to have lost all Christian principles. The Seanad was set up primarily to provide a forum for Protestants. It was a tragedy that we did not persist with this because if there is anything for which the Protestant tradition is noted, it is a sense of private conscience. They are not all saints, but, by and large, there is a sense of public rectitude and conscience and it is sorely missed in Irish public life.

It would be a barbaric act to remove the Seanad which costs comparatively little——