Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senators. I will take Senator Donohoe's last point. The debate was demeaned earlier today when people shouted at each other. This is not a time for shouting at each other but for calm reflection. It is a time to respect the people, who have given us a very clear view. If we value anything in this country we should value our democracy. In this matter the only sovereign authority in this State is the people. The people have given an answer and we must analyse that and understand what they are saying. I do not believe the Irish people have taken the view that we should disconnect from Europe, however they have given us a very challenging position. The verdict of the Irish people must be respected in all the political debates. However, first we must try to understand what the people are saying to us. They were not simply saying "No". As we see from today's poll analysis, they said different things. As Senator Donohoe pointed out at the end of his very thoughtful contribution, young people pointed out different things, because they have a different perspective of Europe. The economic well-being and political progress we have enjoyed over all these years are taken for granted. We should communicate the basis on which that has taken place.

I cannot understand the excitement Senator Ross generated within himself in the debate. The treaty cannot come into force until it is ratified by all 27 member states in its current format. That is EU law. I also disagree with Senator Ross's view that he can dismiss all the political parties on the "Yes" side in this country, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, 60 chambers of commerce and the Irish farming organisations. It seems the proposition he was putting forward is that one can be dismissive of all of these organisations. I do not believe one can take that view from this result.

It is clear we must consult widely, both at home and within the European partnership. I agree with the points made by several Senators, including Senators Alex White, de Búrca and Feeney, that this is not just an Irish problem; it is a European problem. The disconnect which exists between the citizens of Europe and the European Union is a dangerous one. I also share Senator Alex White's view — he made the point eloquently — that one has to look at who is celebrating this victory in Europe. It was not people who I would normally regard as being advocates of the kind of democracy to which we assign ourselves in Europe. The UKIP party represent some views, as do those on the extremes of the Conservative Party, and I respect those views. I am not sure I respect, for example, Mr. Le Pen and the National Front — I certainly have difficulties in that regard. However, they represent something, although, in my view, it is something which is unacceptable and for which the Irish people do not sign up, and for which they did not vote last Thursday.

As the Taoiseach has stated, we want to make it clear to our European partners that Ireland has no wish to halt the progress of the European Union. We are not a destructive nation. We are certainly not a eurosceptic nation. However, we are a nation which does things in our own way, and we show a way to the European Union by holding a referendum. The greatest expression of democracy in the Union is asking the people what are their views. The people have come back to us with an answer for which we would not have wished but they have nonetheless presented us with an answer and we must understand, as must Europe, what it is that this sovereign people have said.

It is not disrespectful to the Irish people to say we must now have a period of reflection because that is exactly what the Irish people would wish. I do not believe for a moment that the Irish people would take it as being a positive sign of politicians on any side of this debate if we were to jump quickly into solutions which are facile and which would not work. As Senator Alex White said to Sinn Féin, it is easy to draw up a list; it is a question of how one delivers.

There is a reality that other member states are engaged in their ratification process. They too have a right to express their view in their own democratic way. It is not for us to tell them how they should operate, no more than it is for them to tell us. We need to identify clearly the reasons the Irish people voted against the treaty and then see where that takes us. We need to complete our analysis of the result and draw the necessary lessons from it. The next step is for the Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy Martin, and myself to give the initial assessment in the Council tomorrow and in the bilateral meetings we will have tomorrow and on the following days.

It is a very important point in history and in the history of Ireland's engagement in Europe. We have reached a critical point. I disagree with the Senator who suggested there was exaggeration on both sides. I have campaigned the length and breadth of this country since last December and I can truthfully say I never intended nor can I ever be shown objectively to have exaggerated any of the issues. However, it was an exaggeration, as Senator Mullen noted, for people to talk about abortion, which has no part in this treaty, or about euthanasia, the incarceration of young children or the reintroduction of the death penalty. Those were untruthful statements and they were not made from the point of view of political discourse or balanced debate.

Senator Mullen is taking a rather distorted view of what political debate should be to suggest that somehow we can dismiss untruths and mendacious argument as simply the exaggerations of the heat of the moment. If they were just that, I would find them forgivable but the fact they were constructed over a period and repeated time and again despite evidence being produced speaks about those who put those arguments forward.

The debate is over, however. The campaign has taken place and we should not refight it. What we should do is look at how we protect the interests of our people and our nation in the period ahead. We should not dismiss it as easy or simple. There are 27 states that negotiated the treaty. It is possible that 26 other states have a different view than we have and certainly the 18 that have already ratified have a different view. We must respect their views also.

It is a challenging period. The verdict of the Irish people above all else must be respected as we go forward. We must look for solutions and we will have to look carefully at the message the Irish people have given. We must then take that message to our European colleagues and say that this is a message not just from the periphery of Europe but, I have no doubt, from the people across the Union. As I have said time and again, including when I was Minister of State responsible for European affairs in 2002, the European Union has to reconstruct its connection to its citizens, not just the citizens of this nation but the citizens of all 27 member states. It must bring to light the continuing benefits the European Union has for us all. I agree with Senator Doherty in that regard.

My biggest passion on this issue is driven by the fact that I want my four children to have a future in Europe. I see their future as being in Europe and I see that Europe is critical to our future and to all of our children's futures. In particular, the Union will need to speak to the people in a language they understand. The European project is a wonderful one. As Senator Walsh reminded us, it has brought peace and prosperity to a continent that tore itself apart in wars of unimaginable bestiality in the first half of the last century. The prize we are fighting for is a Europe that will continue to bring peace and prosperity into the future.

It is worth our while, therefore, to put the recriminations to one side, to forget the campaign but not to forget the messages that come from the campaign, and to work for a better future and a better response. Above all else, we must work to respect the views of the Irish people, to respect the fact they gave us a complex answer, to examine that answer and to see exactly how we go on from here. Future generations will not thank us if we drop the ball because our attention is on tearing each other apart. The people of Ireland have a right to expect something higher from politicians on all sides of these Houses than recrimination.

At the outset of this campaign, I welcomed the fact that the main political parties were our supporters in this campaign and I do so now. I recognise the difficulties that existed in parties that came through an election campaign last year and faced some disappointment. It takes courage and a degree of patriotism to put one's own personal animosities and individual attitudes to one side. The test we face in the months ahead is that we continue to do that. We showed solidarity with the people and the nation in the campaign, and we must now show solidarity with the aspirations, wishes, hopes and the future of the Irish people in the weeks ahead.

I thank all Senators on all sides. There was some heat in the debate on occasion but if there was no passion in it, it would not be worth listening to. As a final point, I want to put on the record of the House, as I did in the other House, my personal gratitude to politicians from all sides of the political divide who engaged actively in the "Yes" campaign. I understand the sense of triumph there may be on the other side but the reality is that our job now is to serve the Irish people and to do it well.