Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

The 60-day rule reminds me of mushrooms popping, in that they all appear suddenly one morning. The idea is that nothing happens until 60 days before the election and then suddenly all the little mushrooms are up and off we go and we start counting them. That is nonsense.

One Member with whom I am sharing time has not materialised so I will give myself an extra minute. There is a suggestion that one can do it all electronically and quietly. However, elections should be about an invitation to participate. They should be about genuine contests. There is such a thing as political rhetoric. I admire anyone from a political party who can stand up on a stone wall and say what they stand for. I do not regard those people who whisper around the place saying, "I do not want to upset you now, but just in case, I am standing". God be with all those people who are shy and may they be elected, but they are not superior. An election should be about knowing what it is that one wants, inviting one's fellow citizens to support one, and having the guts to go about it. When one puts one's face on a poster and all that goes with it, why would people get upset about that when they have not been upset by posters for Duffy's circus or Fossett's circus? The posters will only be there for a temporary period in any event.

Another issue relates to music. Why should we not have bands with trombones and bugles if we feel like it? There is something very strange about the notion that everything has to be quietened down. Everything has to be moved to a point far beyond discretion, that things must be whispered. Democracy is not about a whisper, democracy is about the roar of change. We will be getting an awful lot of it in June and the Minister, Deputy Gormley, will hear it.

See this speech in context