Jim Higgins (Fine Gael)

While I appreciate that Mr. Cox may be rather tired of commendations on his address to the House, it was one of the most eloquent and enlightening I have heard. I also had the pleasure, with some colleagues from this House, of hearing his address to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg two weeks ago. Táim ana bhródúil ar fad as a uactaránacht.

Senators McDowell and O'Meara referred to treaty fatigue and the impression of an ad hoc approach based on a patchwork rather than a comprehensive package. In his reply, Mr. Cox also referred to Vaclav Havel. Does he see a European constitution as a feasible reality to pull everything together in a comprehensive package that would represent the idea of "soul" for which Vaclav Havel yearned when he addressed the House?