Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Ah yes, the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan. Abraham Lincoln once said: "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” I hope I have that right but the Deputy knows the quote to which I refer. Fine Gael jumped on the Repeal bandwagon very late in the day but it will be lot clearer to the people who gave the party a degree of support around that issue where it really stands on the struggle to separate Church and State in this country and on issues like Catholic control and influence in other hospitals around the country.

Finally, on the Green Party, it used to be said of the Labour Party that it wrestled with its own conscience but the Labour Party won in the end. The same is true of the Green Party today. The Government's cynical decision to support the motion might get if off the hook of the embarrassment of Deputy Hourigan voting against the Government but the people who voted for the Green Party in 2020 will see what is going on here and will remember the stance of the party on this issue come the next election.

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