Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I join other speakers in welcoming Deputy Catherine Murphy from my own constituency, with whom I served on Kildare County Council for many years. I wish her the best in this House. I also wish my colleague from across the county boundary, Deputy McEntee, well. It is a great honour for someone to be elected but it is always that little bit more spectacular in a by-election. Their election will give each of the new Deputies first hand experience, at close quarters, of what happens in the Houses of the Oireachtas. As Members of the House who have been here for some time know, it is not always as easy as it appears from the outside. I wish Deputy Catherine Murphy every success and good fortune.

When the writs were moved for both by-elections, I welcomed the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, along with his cohort of colleagues, into both constituencies to examine at first hand all the flaws in the veneer.

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