Results 5,881-5,900 of 6,030 for speaker:Brendan Ryan

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: I note that this is the first time in this Seanad that Labour Party speakers have been called before the Independent Members.

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: I cannot resist making the point. It is still an irritant.

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: It is a sign of our diligence. The Labour Party supports this legislation enthusiastically and will be happy to facilitate its speedy passage. It is a matter of regret that we must pass this Bill, but it is the correct decision. I agree with the Leader and Senator Bradford when they say we had taken these things for granted. They were no longer issues. There were no longer news reporters or...

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: Someone said it reminded him of a Mafia funeral. It was not the most auspicious of beginnings, but once things quietened down they worked extremely well and, as the Leader said, became mundane and ordinary. Getting things done is the essential part of politics which large sections of the world find boring. The Minister of State paid tribute to the work of the Ulster Unionist members of the...

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: If someone had referred to a certain coalition Government and had only mentioned Fianna Fáil and not the Labour Party—

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: I am not trying to be awkward.

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: I often try to be awkward, but not on this occasion. May I mention a matter as a curiosity? This is probably the first time since 1922 that the British Government has had executive authority in this part of Ireland.

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: This is an interesting idea and an indication of the degree of compromise we have all come to accept. Where does parliamentary accountability come into this matter? A ministerial council makes executive decisions which are implemented by implementation bodies, and I appreciate the distinction in terms of Tourism Ireland. However, ministerial authority without parliamentary accountability is...

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: This is not something that causes me trouble, but it is an interesting concept nevertheless.

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: People who were strangers to us are suddenly on first name terms and that creates a whole new culture. It is the creation of that whole new culture that makes the anomalies I have just teased out easy to handle. Twenty or 25 years ago, when we were perhaps less secure in our own identity and self-confidence, the practical implications of what we are now doing would probably have generated...

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: I wish to ask a question on the Schedule where it refers to the termination of the Agreement.

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: Looking at the extraordinary language with which Her Majesty's Ambassador is described, is it not a glorious thing to live in a Republic?

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: Legislation has never gone through the House which I wished would expire quickly – it is quite peculiar. I reiterate – I must be alone in this – that I regard the Bill as quite profound in terms of how it defines relationships between ourselves and the United Kingdom. It is a lot more than a technical Bill. As I said on Second Stage, the Bill has quite profound implications which I support.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: I have no problem with the Order of Business. I am somewhat reluctant to support Senator Hayes in regard to No. 2. I read the High Court judgment on the Abbeylara inquiry and it did not make great reading for Members of the Oireachtas. There was a succession of mistakes made and we would need to be well advised before we return to the area again. First, we must get the constitutional and...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: I raise an issue which relates to, as always, the spectacularly empty Press Gallery. Is it time to find some other use for it because it is never used for its intended purpose?

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: Perhaps.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: Three issues that were raised first in the House and perhaps in the Lower House were run as major news items by the media a week or six months later. Senator Higgins raised the question of the refusal of permission to Amnesty International to conduct an inquiry in our prisons. This was reported on in today's newspapers as having been raised in both Houses a week ago, yet the media did not...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: I would like the Leader to raise the issue with the Minister for Transport who, in turn, should raise it with Iarnród Éireann. It is an absolute disgrace.

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (27 Nov 2002)

Brendan Ryan: On a historical note, if a coalition Government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party had not introduced overseas development aid, Fianna Fáil would never have thought of it. It did not believe in it 25 years ago when introduced, it had no interest in it. Let us have no lectures, therefore, from the other side of the House about people's values. Unfortunately, there is no political gain in this...