Eoghan Harris (Independent)

I am handing it out to both sides. I support the call of Senator Joe O'Toole for a discussion, which will have to involve all parties, on the Croke Park agreement. As the late and much mourned Moss Keane said about one of the first matches he played for Castleisland, it was the kind of game which was of more interest to the participants than to the spectators. That is the kind of politics we are getting from this House today. The retreat from cross-party co-operation is pathetic. Even if Fianna Fáil was looking for cross-party Government only out of desperation and weakness, it is what the people want. They want some kind of civility while the Government winds itself down. They want the Croke Park agreement discussed. So what if it is a sign of weakness by Fianna Fáil. Have Fine Gael Members not got the magnanimity, courage or decency to rise up as they did last week and make the offers they made last week? They are behaving like frightened rabbits only because they have a leadership crisis.