Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Crimean war, of course. I had relatives in that war too.

Europe may have been an experiment at the beginning but it has been a very successful experiment. A major price will be paid if people want to second guess that experiment for one reason or another. While discontented voices are raised in various European states from time to time, the European Union is better by far than anything we experienced for the past 500 years, a period that covers most of the wars of concern to my colleagues.

I am a strong European, as is the Chairman, and strongly urge that we keep focused and stay together on the subject and that we do not break in pursuit of micro arrangements that may seem good at the time but will inevitably lead into the sand.