David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Darragh O'Brien in his suggestion that we should have a debate on the Battle of Clontarf. As a descendant of Brian Ború, he should have declared an interest. I have had meetings with Conor O'Brien, Lord Inchiquin, and the Minister, and some money has been released in these difficult times, particularly for the celebration around Killaloe. Members may have heard, as I did with great delight, our former colleague Joe O'Toole speaking about his family's involvement in the Battle of Clontarf. He punctured it beautifully at the end by saying that he discovered they had fought on the wrong side. My family was much cuter than that and fought on both sides, hedging their bets so that they could claim victory no matter what happened.
The House should recognise the fact that Columbia University has awarded the Pulitzer Prize to The Guardianand The Washington Postfor publishing the evidence gathered by Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.

I say this because I nominated those three people for the Nobel Prize for peace. All of us have the right to do so. I wrote to every Member of this House and not a single one supported me in this. I find that interesting. Perhaps they were a little bit afraid of alienating the Americans. It shows that, as I have always said, the Americans are tougher and more various than we are and are not offended by these things, or at least if one offends them they are the right people to offend.

Can the Leader arrange for a debate on, and also urge the Government to introduce, certain measures regarding anaphylactic shock? On 18 December last year a family was Christmas shopping in central Dublin when their daughter had an anaphylactic attack after eating something with peanut sauce on it. She died on the street. Although her mother had gone into a chemist, the chemist felt that he or she was not in a position to give the girl an injection. That was the legal position. In those circumstances I would have been prepared to break the rules. One understands the professional position of the chemist, and I do not want to be critical in this situation, but it is our responsibility to make sure those regulations are changed. No girl, boy or adult, no human being, should die on the streets because of a regulation that one must have a prescription for a simple injection.

There was a debate about this on the radio yesterday in which very sensible suggestions were made - for example, that the person should carry a card identifying him or her as being at risk and permitting the chemist to give the injection. I am not sure this girl was 12, but there are 12-year-olds who are nervous of giving themselves an injection. Anaphylactic shock is a very serious thing. This girl was dead inside 15 or 20 minutes. One is not in a position to give one's self an injection. It attacks one's motor reflexes. I would be very glad if we could consider this situation. It is something practical that Seanad Éireann could do. We could clear it up and we could save lives. That would be a good day for Seanad Éireann.