Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

Yes. It gave an indication of the community spirit which existed.

To return to the current proposals, some people have put on record the representations they were asked to make. I received a number of representations from counties in Munster, particularly Waterford and Tipperary. One involved the case of a young Irishman who married an American citizen. He was undocumented and when he returned home to visit his family he was not allowed to re-enter the US, although his wife was allowed to do so. She is now in the US and he remains in Ireland. While we have heard of sadder cases, these examples underline that all policies and legislation eventually come down to human interest and human considerations. We must keep that in mind. There has always been a special relationship between Ireland and America. That relationship is one which we could exploit, in the best meaning of the word, at this time. The right steps are now being taken through the contacts being made at legislative level.

I salute Senators Kennedy and McCain for the stand they are taking. An underlying courage is evident in their actions in light of the atrocities that occurred on 11 September 2001. As a previous speaker stated, we would be equally cautious if the matter involved this country. We wish the Senators well and compliment all who have been involved in any way in this regard. However, we should not take the passage of the Bill as a given. The 40 million people of Irish extraction and the many organisations in which they are involved must continue to lobby. I hope this can be undertaken in a more official way. For example, there is a well-compiled register of organisations of Irish background in the US. This should be called upon so communications can be sent in a subtle way to ensure these organisations use their clout on the ground. I have often felt that, despite our numbers, we did not always use our political clout in the United States as well as might have been the case. Despite members of the Irish community achieving presidential office, we did not always impact on legislation in the way other ethnic groups did. This is one case in which we need to use those organisations.