John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Rumours of our demise were grossly exaggerated. However, I do not share everyone's joy on the basis that all will be well, that there will be reform and it will all be hunky dory, because if the schedule for the Seanad this week is anything to go by that is the level of contempt that would be visited upon us had the vote gone the other way at the weekend. That is how the Government intends to respect and regard the will of the people. We have seen already that there is a pattern in this country that if Governments do not get their own way in a referendum they try to re-run it or brush it under the carpet. As Senator Crown clearly illustrated, there was a referendum in 1979 which extended the voting right for university panels to graduates of all third level institutions. Each successive Government decided to wilfully ignore the will of the people-----