Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I know he will do exceptionally well. I stand here as a very proud Carlow woman, delighted to be a Member for Carlow-Kilkenny. I thank all of my team. I will work extremely hard for the people I represent. Today is historic for me. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, "There are better things ahead than any we leave behind." It is in this spirit that we must operate. We must look to our past as we look to our future. We have exciting times ahead. We must put the election and all its difficulties behind us and look to the people who put us here. To use our ancestors' words, we must seek now to build "a national polity based upon the people's will with equal rights and equal opportunity for every citizen". We must work together across all parties and none to bring about real, tangible change for the good people of this land. We, the elected Members of this noble House, must put as our priority the good people of this country and act in their interest in the formation of this Government. We must get to work doing all we need to do. Because our future here must be informed by our past, I must advocate for Deputy Micheál Martin to be our Taoiseach. With a political career that has crossed history and historic moments in Irish political life, brought change in policy, in approach and attitude, the Deputy would bring experience and stability to the role, something I feel we need now more than ever. To know where we are going, we must look to know where we have come from and nobody is better placed to do that than Deputy Micheál Martin.

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