Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I congratulate the Taoiseach on being the recipient of an invitation to address both Houses in Washington, the Congress and the Senate. I was driving when I heard him speak about this on Monday morning and, to quote former President Reagan, I said to myself, "Well, there you go again." The Taoiseach must have read the de Valera book circulated by the Minister for happiness because he said he thought he was the only one to have been invited to do so. I do not know whether he was suffering from selective amnesia but I remind him that he should not attempt to air-brush others from history because in 1926 W. T. Cosgrave addressed both Houses, as did Liam C. Cosgrave in 1976 to mark the bicentennial, Garret FitzGerald in 1984 and John Bruton, as Taoiseach, in 1996.

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