Results 241-260 of 446 for speaker:Niall Blaney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Integrated Education Fund (27 Jan 2022)

Niall Blaney: I want to ask a question on that point. What are the timelines for that independent review? When is it expected to report?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jan 2022)

Niall Blaney: Given the week we are in, I wish to raise the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday events this year. It is ironic that the 50th anniversary falls on a Sunday. The Bloody Sunday Trust in Derry has duly titled its work One World-One Struggle and has organised events from this Thursday, 27 January, until Sunday, 30 January. I ask people to engage with those events over that four-day period....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Foyle Port (16 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: I extend a warm welcome to Mr. Clancy and Mr. O'Kane and thank them for their presentations. As someone who is from the north west I am very much in favour of their proposals and a lot of what they said. First, I completely concur with what Mr. Clancy said about the cross-Border issues concerning Brexit. I am very much aware that his organisation has a strong relationship with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Foyle Port (16 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: There are a number of tax issues. I agree with what was said by the Chairman. I am very much aware of individuals on both sides of the Border who work on both sides of the Border. As some of them are in an awful position taxwise and are really crippled, I very much favour the proposals made by Mr. O'Kane. I suggest to the Chairman that we write to the Ministers for Finance and Public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Foyle Port (16 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: I thank the witnesses for their replies and recognise, as Deputy Smith said, the activity that takes place, especially between the two colleges mentioned, LYIT and Magee University. We had Malachy Ó Néill and the LYIT president in at the start of last year and we had a very good presentation on collaboration from both of them. I met Mr. Clancy two weeks ago. There is further...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Foyle Port (16 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: I welcome Mr. McGrath to our committee today, albeit online. I would rather see him in person, but this is the way things are presently. Foyle Port has quite an impressive portfolio. There is certainly much activity going there and it does an awful lot of good work for the north west. I also live on a lough, although it is the next one over, Lough Swilly, so I recognise how much...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Foyle Port (16 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: That is very good. It is an exciting project. On cost, I imagine Mr. McGrath is looking at a major development in Greencastle at a pretty serious cost. Did he get that far?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Foyle Port (16 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: I agree completely. It is something I and others have advocated for many times before. The Antrim coast into Derry and Donegal is certainly some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. However, the areas are completely virgin to the type of infrastructure we need to attract and keep people here. The proposal is a very good one. Certainly, I will talk to the council in relation to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Business of Joint Committee
Engagement with WAVE Trauma Centre (9 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: I was delighted to meet Ms Peake and others at the WAVE Trauma Centre in Belfast. If there is any way those of us on the committee can be of assistance as Government representatives, they should please let us know. We will only be delighted to help their cause. We have treaded gently around this issue. This is not to have a go at Sinn Féin but, in a way, I will be having a go at...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: I wish to discuss the railway strategic review which is now under way. It was announced by the Ministers, Nichola Mallon, MLA, and Deputy Eamon Ryan on 29 November. I did not speak on it last week because of the whole mica situation. I did not want to blur the lines. I very much want to emphasise that this review is now taking place. I thank the two Ministers for the input they have had...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: This week we celebrate the first anniversary of the setting up of the shared island unit. This is at a time when we are celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It is 23 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Society and Members of both Houses have an opportunity to finally put to rest grievances and differences in this country and have...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Dec 2021)

Niall Blaney: I will speak about the new scheme put in place by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, yesterday. I strongly wish to put on record how much I welcome this new scheme. It affects the Deputy Leader's county as well as mine. There has been an awful lot of confusion overnight. I wonder how much of the €200,000 Sinn Féin raised at a golf event in the US over the past number of...

Seanad: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Niall Blaney: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. As a Donegal man, it would be remiss of me to stand here without mentioning the approval of the mica scheme by the Government. It is welcome and we will speak more about that another time. I am somebody who has taken a keen interest in the national development plans. The concept of the national development plan has come to the fore since the...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by An Taoiseach (18 Nov 2021)

Niall Blaney: I welcome the Taoiseach. We are very proud to have him here as our Taoiseach. I was equally as proud on the day he asked me to be his spokesperson on Northern Ireland. Considering what he has done and the republican approach he has taken in the context of the shared island unit and what he is trying to do there, he is setting up an approach to deal with issues in this country in an...

Seanad: Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland: Statements (17 Nov 2021)

Niall Blaney: I, too, thank the Minister for coming to the House again with a fresh update on the Brexit negotiations and the protocol. It is fair to say we must thank the US Administration for its steady and supportive hand throughout this process. As I have said in this House before, the Minister has built up a number of contacts over the years and been a steady hand throughout this process. Our...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Members of the European Parliament (2 Nov 2021)

Niall Blaney: Leading on from Senator Chambers's question, I will follow in the same vein. We have spoken about representation and disparity around human rights in different parts of Union. Many of those rights are visible on a daily basis in Northern Ireland. Mr. Cuffe mentioned earlier the mayoral positions in Galway, Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Waterford. There is a major disparity in this country,...

Seanad: British Government Legacy Proposals: Motion (13 Oct 2021)

Niall Blaney: I thank the Minister for coming before us today. It is appropriate he is here for the debate on this motion. I wish him well over the next few weeks with his deliberations on the workings of the protocol. I thank Senator Currie for bringing the motion before the House and sharing a little insight into her background. It is appropriate that she has led the debate given the background of...

Seanad: British Government Legacy Proposals: Motion (13 Oct 2021)

Niall Blaney: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defective Building Materials (6 Oct 2021)

Niall Blaney: I welcome the Minister to the House to discuss the mica and pyrite redress scheme. I thank him for the time and attention he has given us thus far and I also thank the Taoiseach and other parties to Government. The report of the working group released last week has caused an awful lot of distress to families in County Donegal and probably County Mayo. The Minister is well aware of the...