Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator de Búrca for allowed me to speak before her. I welcome the Minister of State. His contribution was worthwhile and contained nothing with which I would not agree. Everybody on the "Yes" side is very disappointed with the result, but it is a time for reflection, not blame. It is the second time in eight years that Irish people voted "No" to an EU treaty.

I am worried that Ireland will be seen as Eurosceptic. I was hurt and disappointed to see people in the House of Commons last night wearing green T-shirts carrying the message: "Respect the Irish vote". Last Friday, we saw television footage showing the Eurosceptic members of the English Parliament using the Irish flag as a beer mat. I am disgusted with that. My first thought on seeing it was to wonder how Sinn Féin feels when it looks at the people with whom it has aligned itself.

We must be very careful at this juncture. As my colleagues Senator Walsh and Senator Ormonde said, we respect the democratic Irish vote. A large group of Irish people will claim to be pro-Europe, yet there is a cohort that believes that the EU wishes to conscript children into a European army, a cohort that believes the EU wishes to ruin our economy with the tax regime it wishes to introduce and a cohort that believes abortion and euthanasia will be available on demand in this country and that God will be removed from the Constitution.