Eoghan Harris (Independent)

I ask the Leader to consider having a debate on moving on. By this I mean that there is an ideological division in the country which has become clear to those of us who work in newspapers. On the one hand, one has those who want to continue fomenting anger and looking back, while at the same time trying to moving forward. They give one a dialectic in that they want to move back and forward at the same time. Some of us who work in the media have detected a very serious structural shift among the public. The RTE media whinge nexus is misreading public opinion and newspaper sales will prove who is right about this.

Fine Gael and the Labour Party should take stock of these shifts in public mood. I woke up this morning to hear an after-image of euroscepticism around Fine Gael, the party I would have thought owns the European project. I do not like after-images like that and do not care what were the details of the debate - the trees so-called - because the wood is what matters. The after-image left behind in the public is that there is some kind of problem between Fine Gael and Europe.

A few weeks ago the after image left behind in the public was that there was some problem between the Fine Gael Party shadow spokesman on justice and the Garda Representative Association when the former was ambivalent about an issue. We then had an affray in the Dáil yesterday and two voices were heard in this House. Senator Donohoe has been very solid in saying: "We stand by law and order and do not stand over this GRA gurrier stuff". Other Fine Gael voices have also been solid, including Senator Joe O'Reilly yesterday who stated his party did not stand over the affray. I wish Fine Gael would start speaking with one voice. If it is to take over the Government of this country, it should not dig holes for itself, as it is doing by being ambivalent on euroscepticism, anarchy in the Garda and this, that and the other. Let it get a grip and start behaving like a Government party.