John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. McWilliams. As a pope's child myself, my first question relates to his book, The Pope's Children, published in 2005. It was this book, in many respects, which brought Mr. McWilliams to national prominence. One reference in that book particularly struck me when I reread it recently, namely, the statement that the decline of Germany had changed Irish psychology and was central to Ireland's success. Will Mr. McWilliams outline briefly what he meant by that?