Results 1,941-1,960 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: We substituted another one.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I recommend Senator Brian Hayes reads De Valera's speech to the Dáil in 1946 on membership of the United Nations. He did not just articulate the traditional policy of neutrality. He mainly articulated Ireland's obligation to take part in international collective security, which could have involved the use of force on certain occasions. People should have no bones about that. When Lemass...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: When the Government parties looked at it, they decided——

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: —— that there was not any legal or constitutional need for a referendum. Before joining Partnership for Peace——

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Can the Senators allow me to conclude?

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Due to the change in our position on Partnership for Peace, it was necessary to obtain an electoral mandate and it was put into the manifesto for the European Parliament elections. There were people who were anxious to see a majority of MEPs elected who would be opposed to Partnership for Peace. As it happens, we did fairly well in that election. The Fine Gael Party and even the Labour Party...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: And ladyships.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Only when the process is complete.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: It is important that annual reports are made because a persistent, if small, body of opinion argues at every meeting of the National Forum on Europe that we have sold out our neutrality and are becoming part of the US-led NATO complex, if not a member of the coalition of the willing. A sober appraisal of the facts demonstrates the clear desirability of participation in various international...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I will explain it to the Senator if he so wishes.

Seanad: A Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland: Statements. (28 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Minister of State and I welcome the debate. Most of us have had relatives, friends or people who worked closely with us who had cancer and, in many cases, died of it. This area deserves a very high priority because in many cases life can be prolonged considerably with appropriate early treatment but there is a need for appropriate care in terminal cases. In that regard, someone...

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: Apart from well-worn debates on the Order of Business about the proper name of a certain Kerry town——

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: ——we have relatively few opportunities to debate our cultural heritage. It is notable that there have been Europa Nostra Awards for two projects. The OPW was involved in one for the fine restoration of the curvilinear glasshouse project at the National Botanic Gardens, in which the Taoiseach was interested and promoted. The work of the Irish Georgian Society over 40 or 50 years was also...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I, too, welcome the gradual re-establishment of respect for the rule of international law both in the United States and Britain through the agency of the courts. I also welcome yesterday's meeting between the Taoiseach and Prime Minister Blair. The choice is clear. It is between either working Northern Ireland as a political entity or reinforced joint stewardship and partnership between the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: 40 A.D.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I welcome the Bill and welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House. The Minister, who was in the Chamber earlier, is someone who finds himself in the wars quite frequently. However, regardless of what one's views of his wider political role may be, we are fortunate to have an effective, capable and energetic Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I have full...

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2006)

Martin Mansergh: The Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service regularly has sessions with representatives of the various banks. It would be a very suitable forum for the type of questions Senator Ross has in mind. I have some sympathy with the point made by Senator Cummins. It is unsatisfactory that passports must be used and produced in all sorts of situations for which they are not intended. They...

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Jul 2006)

Martin Mansergh: What height was Napoleon?

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Martin Mansergh: At midnight last Saturday as I was down on the farm I heard what might be described as snap, crackle and pop outside. I opened the front door and saw a firework display lighting up the sky approximately two or three miles away. It may have been related to a wedding reception, and was no doubt in a place that has a licence for fireworks. I am ambivalent on this. We have a puritanical attitude...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Martin Mansergh: I accept the other side of the case, which is that if people, particularly youngsters, can indiscriminately buy fireworks, this would be another dimension to vandalism and disorder. I rise to speak because we should not kid ourselves that the situation is satisfactory because the law, certainly around 31 October, is unenforced and unenforceable. The Minister needs to re-examine this issue....