John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to congratulate Dmitry Medvedev on his election to the presidency of Russia? For Russians living in Ireland, polls were held in Limerick and Dublin at which Mr. Medvedev got more than 80% of the vote. The OECD questioned the influence of the Russian media on the election results. Whereas the Irish media would have given open, and in some cases not very knowledgeable, views as to what is happening in Russia, Mr. Medvedev achieved an 80% vote among Russians living here, many of them young. It is a country with a great future and I ask the Leader to pass on our congratulations and best wishes for the future to Mr. Medvedev.