John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I still feel a little like a tourist when I am in the corridors of Government and Parliament and I still take an outsider's perspective and have a sense of wonder at some of the opportunities it gives somebody who has a different day job. I had an interesting experience last week. I got to address a meeting held by the London Irish Lawyers Association and the National University of Ireland Graduates Association of the UK in the Liberal Club in Whitehall in London and it was a very interesting experience. The topic of the debate was the abolition of the Seanad. There were about 80 folks present in the audience, most of whom, I suspect, in our quasi-democractic Seanad electoral system currently have votes and all of whom will lose their votes if the abolition of the Seanad goes through.

I debated against a Government TD, a Fine Gael TD, who honestly admitted on the floor during the debate that the €20 million figure is absurd.