Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to have an in-depth discussion following the events of last Saturday. Approximately eight years ago, the people on both sides of the Border gave their support to the Good Friday Agreement. The concept of tolerance and acceptance of alternative points of view is at the core of the Agreement. Sadly, the test of tolerance failed on the streets of our capital city last Saturday. We must reflect deeply on the matter. I agree with Senator O'Toole that we must also reflect deeply on the intolerance and sectarianism which, unfortunately, are at the core of the beliefs of too many people on this island.

We must also reflect on the language of politics. We speak of reclaiming the streets but we must reclaim the language of politics. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Progressive Democrats are all republican parties. A group such as Republican Sinn Féin is certainly not a republican party. It is a neo-nationalist Nazi party.