Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I warmly congratulate the Minister of State, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Taoiseach, the other Ministers and the teams of civil servants in different Departments who made the Presidency such a success. It is a source of tremendous pride in the country and within the Oireachtas. Ireland has never had a bad Presidency and it has had a number of important Presidencies, particularly our first one in 1975 when we showed we could it do it well and in 1990 when immensely important events were taking place in central and eastern Europe, South Africa and economic and monetary union commenced.

However, there has not been an occasion when so much pressure has been put on Ireland to pull the coals out of the fire for the entire Union. No more important task has fallen to a member state holding the Presidency and this Presidency was not simply a matter of co-ordinating everything that was going on. It is an exceptional tribute to the diplomatic skills of the Taoiseach and everyone else concerned that this difficult and important task was brought to a successful conclusion.

Other highlights of the Presidency were the successful enlargement of the Union and a number of summits with different countries such as Russia, Japan and, especially, the US. Given the deep rift between European countries and the US, I am glad that, following UN Resolution 1546 and the common US-EU position adopted at Dromoland Castle, the international community is coming together again because divisions serve no one's purpose in the long term.

I refer to a number of different aspects of the constitution. While the main Opposition parties have been extraordinarily generous in their support of the Irish Presidency and acknowledged its achievements, a number of people at the fringes of the political system and outside it take a different and more negative view. I understand the disappointment that there is not a stronger religious reference in the constitution, though it contains a number of positive provisions. I refer to the editorial of the Church of Ireland Gazette on 2 July, which puts that in perspective. It states:

The Preamble does not make the reference to Europe's Christian heritage that some states and churches were seeking. No tears should be shed over this omission for the church does not need any special recognition. Moreover, to have given Christianity special mention could easily have been resented by other faith communities — and the EU is a place where many different faiths are to be found. It was important, however, to retain the much more significant Article 51, which guarantees the churches, among others, an entitlement to regular consultation by the institutions of the EU.

It is frustrating to continually read the mantras of opponents of the constitution relating to superpowers, super states and so on. Super states would not have much difficulty attracting numerous applications for president of a similar body to the European Commission, if it were the equivalent of the office of President of the US or President of Russia. The "super state" has resources equivalent to 1.2% of GDP.

I fully endorse the Minister of State's comments on the subject of defence. Reference is often made to the militarisation of Europe. I gave a lecture at the Curragh military college yesterday, which was followed by a discussion. It was put to me as fact that military spending in the EU generally is being cut. I wish Senator O'Meara luck in trying to persuade her party colleague, Mr. Roger Cole, of this.

It has been suggested by persons close to an unsuccessful candidate in the European Parliament elections that the forthcoming presidential election should be used as a referendum on the European constitution. That is an extraordinary suggestion, since the people will have a specific opportunity to vote on the constitution in a referendum and, moreover, the President does not have a role in this regard. He or she is one of the signatories of the constitutional treaty.

I refer to an extraordinary remark by John Brown in a newspaper article. He stated:

As for the presidential election, the issues are totally different this time. We are at a pivotal point in Irish history where we are talking about the final nail in Ireland's coffin as a sovereign state. At the time of the Nice referendum, President McAleese said it was a good model for European — Fianna Fáil's integrationist. The question that needs to be asked is if the Irish people ratify the European constitution, will she sign it?

This raises the extraordinary prospect of the people voting in a referendum on a constitution and, if a certain person is elected President, he or she will have the power to refuse to sign it. People need to reflect on certain basics before they charge in. Ireland has become a more sovereign nation since it joined the EU in comparison with the more isolated sovereignty which prevailed prior to that. Sovereignty should be used in co-operation and co-ordination with other countries. Ireland has done fantastically well out of Europe. The constitution provides a framework, which will enable a larger Union to operate coherently. How could that be contrary to our interests?