Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

That is okay.

Senator Brian Hayes raised the issue of what happened in Spain regarding the referendum there on the EU Constitution. The Spanish Government was clever to hold an immediate referendum because the new Prime Minister wished to cash in on his current popularity. His government had a good result.

I raised the matter of the European agenda in this House at a meeting of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. In the House I suggested that a meeting of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges should be held to detail how we would deal with this agenda. The Cathaoirleach agreed to that. I agree it should happen after the by-elections. We could have a meeting in the next couple of weeks. It is a good idea to have all the MEPs together because we could have a debate with them. As well as being productive it would make headlines if we got all the Irish MEPs to attend the House. That is one of the ideas, therefore, and I have sought such ideas from Members so they can be discussed by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.

Senator O'Toole mentioned how important it is to deepen cross-community relationships and he said how well the match between Linfield and Derry City had gone on the pitch, if not off the pitch. He also said that the word "republicanism" is being sullied and that all the democratic parties should reclaim it as their own motto. I fully agree with that because the way in which the word "republicanism" is being cited now is both a parody and a negation of its meaning.

Senator Ryan raised the issue of the Údarás na Gaeltachta elections but I have not been able to find any committee which has dealt with that matter. The regulations covering Údarás na Gaeltachta are being made to bring those elections in line with the last local and general elections. Nothing is being introduced with regard to the Údarás na Gaeltachta regulations that has not already been implemented for the last local and general elections. Nonetheless, I asked members of the Joint Committee on the Environment and Local Government, including Senator McCarthy, but nobody seems to have dealt with the issue. The regulations may well have been discussed with regard to the local elections but not the Údarás na Gaeltachta elections, which was the question raised by Senator Ryan. Is that not correct?