Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for allowing me this. Fracking will also be a big issue for rural Ireland and rural communities. I apologise in advance, because I have to go into the Seanad to speak to that debate.

I thank Mr. McGuinness for his courage in what he has done in the past number of months. I do not underestimate how difficult it was for him to do that. He already referred to his long-standing relationship with the former Taoiseach, so for somebody like Mr. McGuinness to come out and say these things because they were so important for rural Ireland and the west is huge. It speaks to all of what we are trying to do here and what we have been trying to do for years.

I also acknowledge the work of the Western Development Commission, including under Mr. McGuinness as chairperson, and all of the reports and strategic framework that it provided over the years, because that has all served to unite communities and to try to bring about a united response to the huge problem we have. Going through and examining Mr. McGuinness' submission from today, I think he hit some key aspects. I want to acknowledge what he and the Western Development Commission have already achieved. I also want to acknowledge what he has done outside the Western Development Commission, including his foundation of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT, with others, and the Mayo campus of the GMIT and what is happening with that and the threats and battle there to try to develop that in the way that it should be developed. I know he has always been a positive person and has always looked for opportunity and to bring people together to enhance that opportunity for rural Ireland. Mr. McGuinness said that his ambition was not matched at either political or administrative level, and I think that hits the nail on the head. He said that he was naive. I would not say that he was naive, but that he was always ambitious for rural Ireland, as I would like to think I am myself. There is a difference between being ambitious and being naive.

Mr. McGuinness referred to relating to governance and the concentration on governance. The first question I would ask is if he thinks the institutionalised thinking of some of our Departments and representatives is a deterrent to tackling what is really happening in rural Ireland.