Results 4,461-4,480 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Cluster Munitions: Motion (6 Mar 2008)

David Norris: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Cluster Munitions: Motion (6 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I am glad the Leader of the House is present because I feel very strongly about the disgraceful way the business was re-ordered in the House. It is not true that the Whips of all the parties knew about it or were consulted. Mine was not and the Fine Gael speaker had no knowledge of it. The first speaker from Fianna Fáil was hauled out of the Forum on Europe. That is not the way to do...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I wish to raise an issue on which the Chair allowed Senator Harris to make a lengthy intervention a week or so ago. It is a matter of great importance to standards of honesty, decency and justice in this country. It is fundamental to the well-being of a number of people in Ireland and abroad. I hope the Chair will allow me a gracious degree of latitude. I refer to the film, "Fairytale of...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: Such a broadcast must be illegal. Calls have been made for Mr. Ó Searcaigh's poetry to be removed from——

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: ——the academic syllabus, the local authority grant for his house to be withdrawn and for him to be removed from Aosdána.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: It is relevant. I will make it clear how relevant it is.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: Gloriously, the artists of Ireland have supported Cathal Ó Searcaigh as they previously did in the case of Oscar Wilde. This is because they have a unique insight into the processes of works of creation and destruction. I wish to make it clear that I support the brave letter sent by the artists to The Irish Times. When I saw the film, my stomach sank and I thought of the words of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I call for this film to be referred to the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources so that the truth can be established with the assistance of experts.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: The illegality is possibly a matter for this House. Communications is an appropriate matter for the committee established by both Houses of the Oireachtas to examine such matters.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I accept your ruling but I ask the Leader to ensure this matter is referred.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: It is to identify the truth.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: Here or in Cheltenham?

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I thank the Leader but I think there was a misunderstanding because I did not want the Committee to ban anything.

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I did not have the pleasure of being in the House when Ms Ahern was a Member and subsequently Cathaoirleach, but I met her on three occasions, widely separated by years. The first was when, as Cathaoirleach, she chaired a debate organised by one of the major debating societies in Trinity College. At this debate, one of my friends who had not only a double but a triple personality, being...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I move amendmentNo. 6: In page 10, to delete lines 21 to 25.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: This refers to the troubled business of the corporate body. I do not propose to take up a huge amount of time on this but it is odd that a corporate body is assumed to have feelings. I have said this a number of times in the past. The Minister pointed out previously that, for example, my own august institution, the College of the Sacred and Undivided Trinity near Dublin, might be defamed...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I indicated that we would have to get on with the business today. Some of my passion has been diluted by the decision in the Sunday World case. I had thought of testing the waters with a bit of a gamble to see if the Cheltenham effect had weakened the Government side, where it was likely to be most pronounced, but I recognise the extraordinary vote management of which Fianna Fáil is...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I move amendmentNo. 8: In page 12, to delete lines 3 and 4. I thank the Minister for graciously acknowledging the work previously done in the Seanad on this matter. The amendment concerns judges and I table it in the light of an experience I had many years in the courts where I used to attend fairly regularly. Certain judges made a habit of making the most derisory, cutting, defamatory and...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I very much welcome the Minister's indications regarding the progress of the other Bill and the response that he received. In those circumstances I will not press the amendment.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (11 Mar 2008)

David Norris: I move amendmentNo 11: In pages 14, 15 and 16, in page 14 to delete lines 40 to 43, in page 15 to delete lines 1 to 42 and in page 16 to delete lines 1 to 9. This is the matter of the defence of honest opinion which goes to the crux of the reservations many of us have about this Bill. It is not sufficient for somebody to think that something may be true and to honestly believe it. One can...