Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

John Bruton represents an Irish parliamentary tradition that dates back to Daniel O'Connell and Pádraig Pearse, who is one of our heroes and made the ultimate sacrifice, as he said himself, "in bloody protest for a glorious thing". John Bruton is entitled to express his opinion. If the Senator disagrees with his view then that is fine but do not deny him his right of expression. The Senator said that John Bruton should not have said what he said. If the Senator disagrees with what he said then that is a different matter. Also, John Redmond united the Irish Parliamentary Party, worked very hard for home rule and his son died in the conflict. He is another of our great heroes. We need not be exclusive here. I admire John Bruton for speaking his mind and contributing to political debate.