Like Senator Ormonde I come to this with a degree of enthusiasm that was formed for me in September 1958. I finished university, sailed on a boat from Cobh and went to Brussels. The Brussels World Fair was in progress. I wanted to find work in the hotel business because that was my family business. I went to the station in Brussels saying, "Je voudrai acheter un billet à France, s'il vous plait", meaning, I want to buy a ticket to France. The ticket clerk asked me where in France I wished to travel, that it was a big country, "C'est un grand pays". I asked for the first station after the border. I stepped off the train in Metz and got a job in the kitchen in the Buffet de la Gare, which was the first kitchen I saw. September 1958 was a momentous time to be in Europe; to be in Brussels for the World Fair; in France for the Fifth Republic Constitution referendum and a few weeks later for the election of President De Gaulle and then to Rome for the installation of Pope John XXIII. These events created for me a different vision of Europe. I realised the young people I had encountered in Belgium, France and Italy had a different future and outlook. I returned to Ireland with a belief that we could become part of this. De Gaulle turned down our application and it was 1973 before we joined Europe. My first interest in politics dates from that time. I am excited today and I will be on 1 May when the ten countries join the Union. I know they share the same enthusiasm because they have voted in that way. I welcome what is the best ever prepared enlargement.