Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I join Senator Brian Hayes in congratulating Tony Blair, whose presence is important to complete the peace process. I also pay tribute to the outgoing Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Paul Murphy, both for what he did over the past two years and for the crucial role he played as Minister of State during the negotiations on the Good Friday Agreement. In congratulating all those who have won seats in the Northern Ireland election, we must recognise that David Trimble, who has resigned as leader of the UUP, and his party did a great deal of heavy lifting, as did the SDLP, which has survived to fight another day.

We welcome a delegation from Tasmania to the House today and most weeks we welcome a visiting delegation. It should be possible for Members to pay a return visit, for example, to Tasmania without being heavily criticised by the media, who do not like when we deal with constituency matters or when we travel abroad. One of the functions of parliamentarians is to be international representatives of their country. We all know comparative perspectives are enriching. Some people think we only won home rule 80 years ago but we won national independence and Ireland is one of the most globalised countries. We should reflect that, as should our media.