Results 14,261-14,280 of 20,831 for speaker:David Norris

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Well, the Cathaoirleach has just listened to about six of them. I am sure he would not want to censor me because there would be the most ungodly row if that was attempted.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I do apologise, a Chathaoirligh. Thank you so much for your kind remarks. Please shower me with them as much as you can. I am giving clear and historically referenced reasons for my position on this. The only complaint from the audience about Shaw's play, when shown in the Abbey Theatre, was that it was not half hot enough. No one was actually offended. There was an interesting piece in...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: They were the ones I remember him giving. Perhaps it was, as I suspected, a malign fantasy as a result of my eating cheese. I made the point at that stage that both of those were dealt with by other laws, for example, those pertaining to conduct likely to provoke a breach of the peace, public disorder or similar. Thus, they are already covered. In other jurisdictions, of course, blasphemy...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I thought it was Violet, but it is actually Senator O'Toole. The preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: One can act as a catalyst for all kinds of odd emotions. In 2005, Greek courts found a book of cartoons to be blasphemous and issued a European arrest warrant for the Austrian cartoonist who drew them. This point is important because the court issued an international warrant which could only be effected where there is a parallel offence. We are creating a parallel offence in this country....

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Many of its teachings are alright, except for the odd neurosis about sexuality, which it holds in common with all churches and most religions, so I do not condemn it uniquely.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Exactly. No, no.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: Nein, nein. Or even 666. This is a serious point.

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I want to show where this could lead. I am a great admirer of Fr. Brian D'Arcy. He has done enormously important work as a broadcaster and writer and has held out a lifeline to people whose lives have been fractured by personal circumstances of one kind or another. He is also a man I genuinely admire intensely. Fr. D'Arcy has the courage of his convictions and, in a gentlemanly way,...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I thank the Minister for the courteous and interesting way with which he dealt with the Bill. I do not agree with him on the legislation and, unlike my colleague, Senator Bacik, I objected to many of its principal clauses. I urged my case but the Minister did not accept it. I found his interventions illuminating and interesting, particularly the story he told yesterday about a couple and...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2009)

David Norris: In any case, the Minister is always interesting. My only regret is that due to the frailties of the flesh, which I have just demonstrated in another sense, I was deprived of his presence during the discussion of the Bill. I will continue to be an adherent of the cult of which he is at the centre.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this legislation, on which I also contributed on Second Stage. I mention in the presence of the senior Minister that the legislation appears principally to be a response to the McCann judgment. I recognise also that Ms Justice Laffoy issued a very good judgment in the case. I wish to put at the centre of this debate the human...

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: The Minister did not draft it. It was Senator Regan, the fausseur. Is the Minister disposed to accept this amendment? It is so good, I assumed it came from the Minister. However, I think the preposition has been left out. It looks to me almost like a conciliation process - the kind of thing that sometimes happens on the way into court when parties agree and no blood need actually be...

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: It is a very good story, but I think it was the creditor.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I add my voice to that of Senator Bacik. I compliment her on getting this amendment passed. On behalf of the House, I thank the Minister for showing this degree of flexibility. It is a very important point, which a number of us made on Second Stage. Senator Bacik put the amendment down, argued very clearly for it and, obviously, impressed the Minister and his advisers. It strengthens the...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I deeply dislike elections, which are a horrible experience for politicians. I have never called for one before, but we need one now because of the disgraceful behaviour of the Government and the way in which it is treating this Parliament. We are moving away from a democracy and towards a Stalinist era of closed courts in which people cannot be represented and which they must attend on the...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: It will not stop that.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: And we can send them to jail as well, without a trial.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

David Norris: That was Senator O'Toole's idea. I just copied it.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (7 Jul 2009)

David Norris: I join colleagues in calling for a debate on the impact on the economy of the disastrous strike by electricians. It seems there is an outbreak of catastrophic idiocy on both sides and a complete lack of understanding of the serious situation the nation faces. It is almost as if warfare broke out on the Titanic between the sailors and the orchestra over possession of the lifeboats while...