Results 4,481-4,500 of 4,815 for speaker:Neale Richmond

Seanad: Order of Business (30 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: As certain Members will recall, last February our very important Oireachtas rugby team played a charity match against An Garda Síochána. It was great fun and a great way to meet and socialise. Senator Mark Daly is a surprisingly good right winger when he wants to be. However the more serious side is that match was played in order to raise awareness of and funds for the work of...

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (23 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: I welcome the Minister of State to the House once again and I appreciate all the great work he, his officials, the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, are doing in the Department at a very difficult time. I speak in place of our regular foreign affairs spokesperson, Senator Joe O'Reilly, who unfortunately cannot be here due to parliamentary business.Like everyone in this...

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (23 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: I respectfully disagree. I join the Minister of State and the Tánaiste in calling for a truly independent investigation, led by the UN, into last week's atrocities and into the ongoing conflict in the region. As Senator Mark Daly said, there are many factors at play here. The current American Administration is not helping the situation. The same thing can be said of the Iranian...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Committee of the Regions: Discussion (22 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: I thank the Chairman. I am delighted to be asked to say a few words. Having spent two very happy years on the European Committee of the Regions and the ECON and CIVEX commissions, I hold my time there in very fond stead. I was disappointed that I spent only two years there but I got the call up for the Seanad. I am delighted Councillor Murphy took my place on the European Committee of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (15 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: I appreciate the weighty tones of many Senators and hope they will indulge me as I raise the slightly more domestic matter of my ongoing call to the Leader to bring the Minister of State with responsibility for sport and tourism before the House to have a real debate on the future of sport in this country, the provision of facilities and the encouragement of so many more people to remain...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (15 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: There was a maiden century by Sandymount's Kevin O'Brien, only the fifth person in history to score a century on their debut. He is a homegrown player who is able to play his cricket in Ireland due to the level of funding provided. We need to have this debate to discuss facilities for every sport, but particularly the national cricket stadium that is committed to. I ask that the Minister...

Seanad: Europe Day 2018: Statements (10 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: I warmly welcome the Minister of State to the House and most importantly wish her a happy Europe Day, albeit belatedly. I commend her on the work she has done since becoming Minister of State in this vitally important role, a role that is becoming more important due to the mess that is Brexit. It has always been important and perhaps it has been undervalued by many in the political and...

Seanad: Europe Day 2018: Statements (10 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: On Tuesday next, 15 May, at 2.30 p.m.

Working Group of Committee Chairmen: Matters of Public Policy: Discussion with Taoiseach (10 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: The committee I chair, by and large, stopped its public sessions after publishing a very detailed report on Brexit in the summer of last year. However, subsequent to that, we have had dozens of engagements with other parliamentary committees and delegations from across the EU on Brexit and while I would like to discuss our meetings with UK delegations and perhaps the ongoing chaos there, I...

Working Group of Committee Chairmen: Matters of Public Policy: Discussion with Taoiseach (10 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: I just want to say "good luck".

Seanad: Order of Business (9 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: Like Senator Horkan, I wish everyone a happy Europe Day. I was going to say so much else, but I fear the Senator may have stolen my speaking notes. It is more likely that great Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown minds think alike.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: Good, although I suppose one would need to write notes down to have them.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: Senator Horkan imparted the recent findings of the European Movement Ireland-RED C poll, according to which 92% of Irish people are in favour of Ireland remaining within the EU. It is an encouraging statistic, but far more encouraging is that, in the 18 to 24 years bracket, the figure is 97%. If North Korea made these figures up, we would still struggle to believe them. Something that is...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: I join other Senators in marking the passing of former Senator and Deputy Monica Barnes. I attended the funeral this morning and the homily given by the priest was very fitting of the varied career she had both in politics and education. I know we are thinking of her husband, Bob, and her family at this time. A recent survey found Irish people have an 80% positive viewpoint of immigration...

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Statements (1 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: I welcome the Tánaiste to the House. I join others in welcoming Senator Ian Marshall and I thank him very much for his very considered contribution and the work he was doing outside this House prior to his election. I welcome Senator Anthony Lawlor on his return to the Oireachtas, where he will make so many contributions in his area of expertise, agriculture, and in other areas.There...

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Statements (1 May 2018)

Neale Richmond: Ours is a broad church.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Commissioner Phil Hogan (26 Apr 2018)

Neale Richmond: I welcome the Commissioner to the House, along with his officials from Brussels. I believe certain officials got a warm welcome from certain Senators last night. It is very difficult to cover all the matters raised by the Commissioner in his lengthy address in three minutes. Much to the disappointment of the 63 members of the Irish Farmers Association in the Glencullen-Sandyford ward I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Enlargement: Discussion (25 Apr 2018)

Neale Richmond: In a former professional life I helped to set up the Blue Star programme. I am particularly delighted, therefore, to welcome the schoolchildren, as well as Ms Joan Flanagan from the European Commission Office in Ireland who does so much. It is great that, six years on, the programme has been taken up so well in Beaufort. County Kerry has always had strong representation under the Blue Star...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Enlargement: Discussion (25 Apr 2018)

Neale Richmond: I welcome the witnesses and thank them very much for their contribution. I am a strong believer in a deepening and widening of the European project. Ultimately, this is the greatest peace project in the history of mankind and the further we widen it into former conflict zones, the better for everyone. Looking at the accession process, however, a concern I have which I raised with Mr....

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Apr 2018)

Neale Richmond: I welcome the revised trade deal agreed between the EU and Mexico over the weekend, which will be a massive boost to the Irish beef and dairy industry. I welcome other trade deals recently agreed with Japan, South Korea and Canada. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, or the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, to discuss all the future trade deals that the EU is lining up...