Results 1,121-1,140 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: Now that we are all opening our hearts, I will make one or two brief comments. This is an interesting debate. I was always in favour of amending Articles 2 and 3 because I believed they were illegitimate. I have always accepted that there have been two states on the island of Ireland since the historic agreement in 1921. The reality is that whatever one thought of Articles 2 and 3 at the...
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: The British in Northern Ireland are not from London, Halifax or wherever. They are British people in Northern Ireland and that has been the constant problem.
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: The 1.5 million people who live in Northern Ireland and who regard themselves as British are as British as the people who live in other parts of the United Kingdom.
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: Irrespective of whether the Senator likes it, they believe they are.
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: Senator, you should listen to what people in Northern Ireland tell you. Perhaps if you did not go down Garvaghy Road as often you might have an opportunity to listen to the 1.5 million people who regard themselves as being British.
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: Our objective in all of this, as the Minister and Senator Mansergh rightly said, is to arrive at a point where there is agreement going forward. We must come to terms with the many people who regard themselves as exclusively British or Irish, or British-Irish. That is why I always felt that Articles 2 and 3 were repugnant to the very notion of reconciliation that should logically exist on the...
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: I move amendment No. 5: In page 5, line 40, after "Oireachtas", to insert "within 1 month of receipt". We propose in this amendment to impose a timeframe as to when the Minister must bring a report from the commission before the Houses of the Oireachtas. As currently drafted, section 10 states that the Minister shall, after consultation with the Government, bring such a report to the Houses...
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: The section deals with Articles 4, 5 and 6 as laid down in the Agreement. Article 4 concerns paramilitary activity. Article 5 deals with the responsibility of the British Government concerning demilitarisation, and Article 6 concerns a complaint made by a political party within the Assembly if a Member of the Assembly has breached the pledge of office. Am I right in saying there is nothing of...
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: I will take that verbal response as the way in which it will apply.
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: No. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Section 10 agreed to. Section 11 agreed to. SECTION 12.
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: I move amendment No. 6: In page 6, subsection (2), line 3, to delete "shall come" and substitute "comes". This is the last amendment.
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: I thank the Minister. Two out of six is not bad. Amendment agreed to. Section 12, as amended, agreed to. SCHEDULE. Question proposed: "That the Schedule be the Schedule to the Bill."
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: The Schedule refers to the agreement between the British and Irish Governments. Article 6 states the commission may consider a claim by any party represented in the Assembly. As the Minister is aware, the configuration following the election result includes an independent member of the Assembly elected, I understand, on a hospital action campaign. Does Article 6 preclude this member of the...
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: It is not a registered political party.
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: I thank the Minister and Senator Mansergh for clarifying the matter. Question put and agreed to. Title agreed to. Bill reported with amendment and received for final consideration. Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."
- Seanad: Independent Monitoring Commission Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: I thank the Minister for his generosity in facilitating two of our six amendments. It is important we wish the new commission well. Its members have a difficult job to do and their work and recommendations will be important because they have a certain expertise in counter-terrorism and security matters, which we should not underestimate. The key to this issue is to forever remove the gun from...
- Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: It is a motion about bovine diseases.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: We all await today the publication of the independent report into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. In particular, those who lost loved ones in that terrible atrocity more than 30 years ago await the report. In agreeing to No. 2 and allowing the committee to go about its work of drawing conclusions from the report over the next three months, in no way am I agreeing that the matter cannot be...
- Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: That is a very good idea.
- Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Dec 2003)
Brian Hayes: He has steered it into the rocks.