David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

It is quite interesting that several Taoisigh and the President have, on occasion, shook the hands of the captains of All Ireland teams from counties Tyrone, Armagh, Down and Derry and congratulated them on winning the All Ireland final, because they are part of the Irish nation, and yet those very same people are not entitled to vote for the President who shakes their hand. That is the point. Political parties can overly complicate what we are proposing. A reference by some Senators and the Minister was to the effect that the Sinn Féin motion was pre-empting the constitutional convention. That is interesting because on the other hand the Minister said we were not being prescriptive enough on some of the proposals in respect of changing the nomination process. If we speak of pre-emption, it was the Government party, particularly Deputy Enda Kenny, who spoke about abolishing the Seanad. Was that not pre-emptive? The Government talks about reducing the number of Deputies, is that not pre-emptive? The Government talks also about abolishing some town councils and merging local authorities, is that not pre-emptive? For Senator Keane to suggest that this House or the Oireachtas should not set the parameters or the broad principles upon which the constitutional convention should discuss issues -----