Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I begin by congratulating you on your election to the Office of Ceann Comhairle. We will certainly miss your wit and humour in the Cabinet room. You have been a loyal and committed colleague of mine for the past ten years and I thank you for that. You are a quintessential Irishman and a very appropriate person to represent this House. The Office of Ceann Comhairle is probably not taken as seriously here as it is in many parliaments around the world. Your legal background will be enormously beneficial in interpreting the rules of this House and keeping order.

I rise also to support the nomination of Deputy Bertie Ahern for the Office of Taoiseach. I do so for the third time in ten years. I do so because I believe he has the capacity to lead a stable, coherent and effective Government in the next five years and because of the unique skills he has to run a coalition Government on the basis of mutual respect and partnership. The fact that he is about to be elected Taoiseach for the third successive time, something that has not happened in this House for more than 60 years, when the political landscape was very different, is a tribute to his unique personal and political qualities, not least of which was the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement and its successful implementation, which has transformed politics and life on the island of Ireland.

Today is not a day for robust opposition or heated debate. Edmund Burke once said magnanimity is not seldom the truest wisdom. I want to pay tribute today to those who are not in this House including, in particular, my colleagues in the Progressive Democrats because we had a very disappointing election. I refer to people such as Liz O'Donnell, who made a great contribution in many respects to this House over 15 years, Fiona O'Malley, Mae Sexton, Tim O'Malley and Tom Parlon, and especially to our leader and former Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell. He has made a lasting contribution to political history and the quality of life in Ireland. His strong defence of the rule of law in the peace process made a major contribution to the health of our democracy and to peace in our society. I think most fair minded people recognise that.

I also pay tribute to many colleagues from other parties who lost their seats, not least of whom was Joe Higgins, a fine parliamentarian even though we did not always agree. We will miss him in this House. Politics can be very cruel to individuals and their families and supporters. Today is a sad day for the many who would have wished to have been here, just as it is a very happy one for the 49 new Members of this House.

We are entering a new political ecology. There is a new organic biosphere made up of——

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