Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I echo the call for an inquiry into the RTE programme. The general public is outraged. Some of the articles I read at the weekend leave me in no doubt that RTE has serious questions to answer on this issue. So far, no head has rolled and although RTE went through the motions of making a full apology, which I accept, I wonder if it came from the heart. We must look very seriously into that.

Belatedly, and following the discussions of last week, I turn to the proposed closure of the embassy to the Holy See. After listening to people in rural Ireland over the weekend, I believe the Government has made a ham-fisted job in this regard. The subject will not go away. At this stage, rightly, we have separated church and State, having, in the days of the great Jack Lynch, moved an amendment to the Constitution to establish this. Although the Catholic Church has no special position under our Constitution it still has a special position in the hearts of a great number of people in this country. This is seen as a knee-jerk reaction by the Labour Party element in government to try to catch up with the Taoiseach's speech on the infamous day he went over the top about the Vatican. This matter must be revisited. I ask the Leader to invite the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, to come to the House and discuss the situation.

I fully support the comments of our colleague, Senator Norris, in regard to taking an overall look at and reviewing the media in this country. Like most Members on this side of the House, I was in the unusual position of not having a party candidate in the presidential election and therefore was able to take a more objective view of media reporting than I normally would. The whole media handling of the presidential election was a thundering disgrace, to quote an infamous comment made at one time by somebody else belonging to the other side of the House. It was outrageous. Each candidate, with the possible exception of the winner - who well deserved to win and will make a great President but concerning whom I did not see much critical analysis - was peeled like an onion every day of the week. It was mortifying.

It will be a brave man or woman who will put forward himself or herself to be Uachtarán na h-Éireann in seven years' time if he or she is to be subjected to the kind of unfair comment to which Senator Norris was subjected. I ask people to revisit the headlines in the Irish Independent in the week before polling day and consider the analysis of one particular candidate and the way in which he was dismantled.