David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The House may generally share this view. I strongly congratulate the national broadcaster, RTE, on a most remarkable and uplifting programme last night. I refer to the interview with the former President, Mary McAleese. This was a prophetic voice and it struck a visionary note, a note of optimism, hope, decency and deep understanding. When I learned that my former colleague and friend was going to Rome to study canon law, I worried that she might get caught up in the academic nature of that and it might become an obfuscation. However, she showed that she intended to use it to explore the meaning of Vatican II and the spirt of that great Pope, John XXII.