Senator O'Rourke raised the question of the recognition of the Irish language. From the beginning the status accorded to the Irish language was not sufficient. Irish is an official language of the European Union, but not a working language. That was not highlighted until the ten new member countries demanded that each of their languages would be a working language. Malta has requested that Maltese, with a speaking population of 300,000, be a working language. There is no benefit in returning to the mistakes of the past but if we were now entering the European Union, we would certainly demand that our language be a working language of the Union. If our Government demands that status for Irish it will be forthcoming. That is the solution and it will be important for our ethos and for our future aims for Europe. Diversity is the basis of unity in Europe. This is an encouraging aspect of the European project.