Results 3,101-3,120 of 6,055 for speaker:Frank Feighan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Fiscal Implications for Northern Ireland of UK EU Referendum Result: Discussion (27 Sep 2016)

Frank Feighan: I am delighted to see the Minister, Mr. Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, here again. It was always a pleasure to meet him on the committee's trips to Belfast and Northern Ireland. Deputy Brendan Smith outlined that in 2012 we went to the Skainos centre in east Belfast as part of the PEACE programme. It was the most wonderful day when the Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland,...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: I agree that we should set aside a few days for a debate on Brexit, which has probably led to one of the most difficult times we have known. It is no coincidence that the French President, François Mitterrand-----

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: -----or, sorry, François Hollande has been here for three hours. Other member states must listen to Ireland's sensitivities regarding Northern Ireland, the free travel area and the common ties with the UK. I agree with Senator Ned O'Sullivan that the UK has made this decision and we have to look out for ourselves now. I suggest we should get much closer to countries like France...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: I concur with Senator Lawless. It is wonderful to see one of our diaspora in the Chamber articulating the views of many millions of people whose voices have not been heard as much as they should have been. More members of the diaspora should be included under the Seanad reforms. Brexit has happened and is presenting major challenges, but a positive can be found in the large number of...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: I second Senator Burke's amendment. I agree with Senator Ó Donnghaile's remarks regarding the Taoiseach's comments on a united Ireland. I think he used the word "unity", which I very much welcome. From my work in the last ten years on the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, I know the idea of a...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: Today, 14 July, is Bastille Day, and I am sure colleagues will join me in wishing all our friends in France and French ex-pats around the world all the best. They have gone through a very difficult time in the past few years. It is time to highlight that Euro 2016 was a major success, perhaps not for the French football team in the final but for a lot of the participating nations,...

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement 2016: Statements (Resumed) (14 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: That would be very helpful.

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement 2016: Statements (Resumed) (14 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: Yes.

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement 2016: Statements (Resumed) (14 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: Senator Joe O'Reilly has five minutes.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: I welcome the news from the CSO figures that Ireland's GDP has increased by 26.3%. I share the sentiments of Senators Walsh and McDowell that the Minister should come to the House to explain the figures exactly. I understand that much of the growth is attributed to multinationals and the aircraft leasing industry. However, it has been good news. Sometimes we do not get enough good news...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (13 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: I very much support this Bill. I am not from an academic background. I travelled around the world in the 1980s and worked in Australia and the US. My father spent most of his life in London. I am very proud, privileged and honoured to be a Member of the Seanad. Twenty years ago, I never thought that I would even be on Roscommon County Council or elected to the Dáil twice so I am...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (13 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: Yes, and David Norris. There were Senators from my area, such as John Connor-----

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (13 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: -----and many more. The one Senator that I remember was Sam McAughtry. I recognised him from his radio programmes. I knew that he was a trade unionist who hailed from an area called Tiger's Bay in Belfast and that he was on the first peace train. He was a Senator in 1996 and I had read his articles which were published in The Irish Times. I was not involved in politics at the time but...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (13 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: From 2002 to 2007, I used the Seanad to get elected to the Dáil and I did not give this House as much time as I should have done. I look forward to being an active Member of this Seanad and working with everybody to try to do what is best for society. We have been elected to advise on and revise Bills but we must also represent the people of middle Ireland, which is where I come from....

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (13 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: Sometimes it is the small things that trip one up. Mr. Joe O'Toole represented everything that was great about a Senator. He came from an academic background, he was secretary general of the INTO and brought a bit of cop-on in here. Better still, young fellas like myself who did not have confidence were made to feel confident because he showed us he was prepared to listen. The same goes...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: I read with interest last week the proposals of the steering group on trauma care to scale back some of the accident and emergency departments. I very much welcome a debate on all aspects of this in the Chamber. I would prefer to bring all the stakeholders as well as politicians around. I saw five years ago the heat generated by such a proposal in Roscommon. Nobody wanted to listen to...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Disablement Benefit (7 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: I wish to establish how many Arigna miners who suffered work-related illness have received compensation to date and how many of those who have applied have yet to receive compensation. In 2010 the National Coal Miners Group secured agreement that the Department of Health would extend disablement benefit to former miners suffering from the prescribed occupational disease pneumoconiosis,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Disablement Benefit (7 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: I appreciate the response. I am concerned that the small number of cases awaiting assessment by the medical assessor would be dealt with as quickly as possible and that the Department has enough staff to deal with the applications. These were hardy men who worked in very difficult times and who provided for their communities through the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. This work-related...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: In 2012 the European Court of Justice made a landmark decision that obliged the United Kingdom to grant a free fuel allowance to those who lived or worked in the United Kingdom and had been born before 5 July 1951. There was no means test imposed in respect of qualified. One of the only times I received thanks in this country was from the tens of thousands of Irish people who lived and...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (6 Jul 2016)

Frank Feighan: We are on section 1.