Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will try to restrict my remarks to five minutes.

There used to be a time when Heads of State and Government came to address this House. I refer to visits by John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Francois Mitterand, Helmut Kohl, Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela. Such visited ended about the year 2000. If the Minister of State were to look at the photographs on the walls of Leinster House, he would find there was a spate of visits at a time when Ireland was respected. They do not come to address this House any more-----

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