Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The point is there was an estimate of what the bridge would cost, but when the tenders came in they were almost double that. The Deputy seems to think we can just write cheques as happened before. This is a different era. I support the concept of a bridge at Narrow Water. I met the people on both sides and the bridge would be a tangible benefit. The project is not dead. We must revive it, but it will be a different bridge when it is built.

I attended the ceremonies at Flanders - at the peace park - put together by Paddy Harte and Glen Barr. It was a privilege to be there and the ceremony was both nostalgic and emotional. Seeing an officer of Óglaigh na hÉireann giving advice to the British Prime Minister in respect of the location for wreath laying and the protocol to be followed was symbolic of a new era of the relationship between both our countries, following on the attendance of the Queen of England and former Uachtarán na hÉireann many years ago, on the first occasion where those two formidable women met. We also visited the Menin Gate Memorial at Messines.

It is a powerful statement when the local guide shows one of the names of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who were blown up or shot and never recovered and whose place of final rest is unknown. There are more than 51,000 names, many from this city and country. The Irish Parliamentary Party had very particular view about associating itself with the Great War, the war to end all wars, in the context of the Home Rule Bill. Everybody made up their own minds, either for King and country or for the freedom of small nations. No doubt the Deputy has been in Flanders and visited the grave of Willie Redmond who, when he was shot, was carried on the back of a Protestant soldier to where he was given attention in the local hospital, which is now the location of his grave. It is a powerful reminder of why we have the European Union. The fact that 60 million people, mostly men, were slaughtered in the two world wars speaks for itself.

To answer Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, we will have a debate the week after next on Northern Ireland.

See this speech in context