Results 2,441-2,460 of 7,582 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I would be very happy to have a debate on this issue at this point, given that we have had the clamour from the Government and supporters of abortion to have legislation. The Minister, rightly, disclosed to us the Garda Commissioner's clear advice that the proposed zones are not necessary. The Minister, nonetheless, clings to the view that he still wants to legislate. What is also...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: Now Ms Dulgheriu is doing the same good Samaritan kind of work herself.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: It is really unfortunate that the Minister for Health and his staff are not interested in meeting such people. Instead, they seem to be in hock to the abortion industry and only interested in depicting opposition to abortion, publicly expressed, as something that is somehow hostile or denigratory when what is clear from the Garda Commissioner's letter is that it is very much the opposite....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: The Minister's official said it was a peaceful prayer vigil. That is how she described it.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I always do. Perhaps we could introduce the tradition of asking to give way courteously, as they do in the House of Commons. I always give way to the Leader.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: The Garda Commissioner does not believe legislation is required and we should engage with that.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I am always delighted to hear the Leader's view.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I asked the Leader if he would facilitate a debate. It is Senator Buttimer's role as the Leader to tell us whether he would facilitate a debate.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: We always get the Leader's view, but will he answer the question I asked?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: No. The Leader does not have to turn every response into an attack. I asked the Leader for a debate. That is all I asked.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Leader.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: And it is not even holiday time.

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Second Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I was listening to Senator McDowell's remarks before leaving my office and I was very impressed by everything he had to say, particularly in the way he pointed to the incoherence between the constitutional change that the Government went to great efforts to bring about and the remaining existing provisions in the Constitution. He is warning about absolutely gratuitous attacks on religion now...

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Second Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I was about to say that I do accept there is a certain legitimacy to what the Minister of State said in regard to other countries invoking Ireland's law. However, the logical and sensible thing to do is not to endorse their point of view by pretending that our law was ever the same as theirs, but to take every opportunity in diplomatic fora to condemn them for making such bogus...

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Second Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I am certainly not referring to Senator Norris. The people who seek that outcome are undermining Ireland's future and opening up a future where populists will thrive because there will be no desire-----

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Second Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: -----to reflect on our heritage and on the things that bind us and have bound us in the past, for good or ill. The only policy that seems to satisfy some people these days in relation to religious practice is one of erosion and denigration. This is the problem of people scratching an itch. There is a certain itch about religion and faith that people feel they have to scratch....

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Second Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: It is good to have one virtuous Senator.

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: It would be difficult to define what is indecent now.

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: The animal rights people would not be too happy.

Seanad: Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Rónán Mullen: I wish to comment on the section in light of the remarks of Senator McDowell. There is a delicious irony in his reference to the Gadarene swine. I am reading a book on a related issue by Tom Holland. It is impossible to escape religious cultural inheritance, as the Senator's comments showed. On the issue of whether statutory provision for an offence of blasphemy ought to have been made,...