Results 7,341-7,360 of 7,585 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Schools Building Projects: Motion (23 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank Senator O'Toole for tabling this motion and support the proposals he has made. Like Senator Norris, I too have been in touch with individual cases in this regard. Some time ago the principal of a school in my parish, Eglish national school in Ahascragh, County Galway, wrote to me. Although the principal provided an excellent summary of...

Seanad: Schools Building Projects: Motion (23 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I accept there must be an emphasis on developing areas and ones of rapid population expansion, but it is also important not to forget rural areas. In County Cavan, for example, we see the greatest increase in enrolment apart from Dublin. We also need to know about current planning and whether there is real vision in what the Department is doing. Take for example the new proposed Phoenix...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I renew my call for a debate on bioethics, with particular reference to the disappointing news that it is to be recommended that embryo destructive stem cell research be permitted in this State. We need cures we can all live with and I remind Members about the promising research conducted in Japan, which demonstrated that flexible stem cells can be retrieved from adult cells. It was...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I was not impressed at the way both the Swedish researchers and a UNICEF representative, Melanie Verwoerd, recently sought by means of a bare assertion to criticise legitimate points made by Professor Patricia Casey, who did not overstep the mark in the interpretation of points made. That is unhelpful because we need facts, not ideology, in such important debates.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I wish Senator Cannon the very best as he sets out on a great adventure. As a fellow east Galwegian, I can tell him that many people in that part of the country are very proud of his achievement, although we see him as somewhat reminiscent of an arctic explorer and hope he will get back safely from this adventure. As a former GAA referee, I am sure the Cathaoirleach will support me in saying...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: ——reaching the point where we need to talk about the GAA to understand what it is doing to resolve this problem.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: Speaking of fair play, it is important we do justice to people who cannot be present when we refer to them in the House. I am sure Senator Norris did not intend to mislead the House when he claimed last week that Professor Patricia Casey had been accused by Swedish researchers of making inappropriate use of their research and drawing inaccurate conclusions in her evidence in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: That is not——

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: He made it eloquently and at length.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: The proposition that fathers are important to their children's development is indisputable and we should not be surprised if, for some ideological reasons of their own, those Swedish researchers might have further difficulties with Professor Casey's assertion that the best way to promote parental development is to support marriage between biological parents. However, we should remember that...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I look forward to the debate on this issue.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: It appears he is coming out on the wrong issue in desiring that the European Union be able to over-ride the right of the Irish people to determine their employment equality legislation. Surely, that is desirable as an expression of the principle of subsidiarity. If Senator Norris is to come out as a "No" voter, I suggest he do so for more considered reasons.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (17 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: He would get a personal vote in east Galway but they would not agree with him very much.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I, too, will be brief. I was in Belfast yesterday and it was a joy to walk down streets on which one felt there was a sense of normality. This is a great credit to all the parties involved as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. I welcome the remarks of Senator Bradford that we should acknowledge that no side is always right or wrong. By and large, people have...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Apr 2008)

Rónán Mullen: Should Senator Cassidy declare an interest?

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I thought I would be like Oisín i ndiaidh na Féinne on the Independent benches but Senator Ross is here and has allowed me to go first, for which I thank him.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2008)

Rónán Mullen: I always find Senator Ross magnanimous.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2008)

Rónán Mullen: Ba mhaith liom cúpla focal a rá maidir le ríomhairí sna scoileanna, agus an ghéarghá atá le infheistíocht i leith ríomhairí. Is minic a bhíonn muid ag caint faoi cé chomh tábhachtach do chúrsaí eacnamíochta na tíre an saigheas infheistíocht seo i gcomhthéacs an méad atá ag tarlúint i tíortha eile. Caithfimid tosnú leis na scoileanna agus an béim a chur ar chúrsaí...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2008)

Rónán Mullen: A Chathaoirligh——