Results 361-380 of 1,000 for speaker:John McGahon

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Second Stage (22 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: I offer my apologies on behalf of Senator Carrigy. Over the past year and a half, he has worked hard on the committee with colleagues. Unfortunately, he cannot make it today. I am happy to fill in for him because this is an issue in which I have taken a personal interest for the past 18 months in terms of big tech and the algorithms that are being used. I watched Ms Frances Haugen's...

Seanad: Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: Like colleagues, I recognise Ukraine is a country that wanted to develop closer ties to the European Union. It wanted to join the European Union and NATO. An attack on Ukraine, as initiated by Russia, is an attack on anyone who is a believer in democracy around the world. That is what is at stake here. Democracy and the way of life we all believe in and support are what is at stake....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: I apologise that I am the sole Fine Gael representative here. My colleague, Senator Currie, is in Fermanagh, and Deputies O'Dowd and Carroll MacNeill have sent their apologies. I have a meeting in Leinster House at 3 p.m. so I have to leave at 2.55 p.m.. As a result, I will not be present for the second round of Fine Gael questions. I have four or five questions. Do I have 15 minutes, Chair?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: With that in mind, I will ask one question instead of a couple at once. Once it is answered, I will move on. Ms McNamee stated that Northern Ireland and the Border counties remain more divided along communal lines. Coming from a Border area, I could not agree more. Why does she believe Northern Ireland is perhaps more divided today than it was 20 years ago? What are her views on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: That is excellent and it really does. I get what Ms McGlone is saying in that it is easier for opposing views to be shared and discussed rather than bottled up and kept in their own communities. That makes absolute sense to me. Ms McGlone said that what is missing in Northern Ireland at the moment is a shared understanding and context of what caused the conflict. Does Ms McGlone believe...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: Naturally enough there has been huge upheaval in Northern Ireland over the past years with Brexit, the protocol and so on. How has the Glencree centre been able to manage that upheaval? What has the centre had to implement to try to be more flexible and manoeuvre in an ever-shifting landscape since 2016?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: On the funding of Glencree, reference was made to fact the PEACE IV funding is due to come to a close in August of this year. What alternative funding streams are lined up?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: Ms McNamee stated her organisation carries out very specialised work and that such work has to be done by well-trained professionals. I do not know whether I should call them employees or volunteers, but how many people work in the centre and what type of training do they need to deal with the important issues it is working on?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: I thank both our guests for their presentations. They are both very impressive people and I can see how on top of their brief they are, given the excellent work they do. I apologise that I will not be present for the second round of questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: That is a fair point. I should have added that the issue is equally prevalent on the unionist side. I accept the point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (17 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: I find it very interesting that both Ms McGlone and Ms McNamee have mentioned the impact of social media. I guess that social media was not a huge thing a couple of years ago and is more recent. I have had this conversation with people I know in Sinn Féin and people in Sinn Féin I am friendly with. I asked what their views on this would be if I was a unionist in Northern Ireland...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: It is great to have the witnesses here and I thank them for their attendance. The concept of environmental crime has not been treated very seriously in this country in recent years and that is why it is so important that directives like this are. This leads into my first question. Does the Department believe, in the context of other European countries, their standard of environmental law...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: Enforcement could be made more difficult in some areas because responsibility rests with so many different Departments. Perhaps it would be useful to have a lead organisation or Department with overall responsibility.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Committee on the Administration of Justice (24 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: I might come in first with a couple of questions because our time is limited. Mr. Holder outlined the international mechanisms that will be open to the Government to challenge the legacy Bill if it goes forward. Is the European Court of Human Rights the key international mechanism in that regard? This is a bit of a hypothetical question but, if that were to happen, what would be the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Representatives from the Committee on the Administration of Justice (24 Feb 2022)

John McGahon: Has there been any engagement with the Garda about that? What Ms Boyd is saying is perfectly legitimate and she is absolutely correct in pointing out what has to be done to try to solve it but if we were to raise this with a member of An Garda Síochána today, what would that member say in response? What is An Garda Síochána saying about it? Has it given any indication...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2022)

John McGahon: The biggest fear in Russia and Putin's Moscow is a free and democratic Ukraine as then people in Russia might look to Ukraine and ask why they cannot have what Ukraine has when they share so many culturally close ties. I have absolutely no doubt Ukraine will be Putin's legacy but it will not be the legacy he intended. It will be the legacy of a stronger and more united European Union and...

Seanad: Situation in the Middle East: Statements (1 Mar 2022)

John McGahon: This is an important debate and I am happy to give people a bit of latitude as they are speaking.

Seanad: Situation in Ukraine: Statements (1 Mar 2022)

John McGahon: The drums of war are beating across the European continent once again. Death stalks the land once again and things will be totally and utterly different from now on. Things will not be the same as they were just a number of weeks ago. There can be absolutely no legitimate return for Vladimir Putin to the world of political respectability after this is finished. He must be treated as an...