David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be very positive today and commend those involved in the arts, on which I seek a debate in the light of the wonderful broadcast of "Strumpet City" recently which vividly brought back to mind and celebrated in a better way than any I could think of, in the beautiful voice of Barry McGovern, the Lock-out. We were invited to see at the Abbey Theatre "Drum Belly", an adventurous, remarkable play. I compliment Senator Fiach MacConghail in that regard.

Last night I attended the launch of a book by Brian Merriman who was involved in starting the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, at which the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, said we were the world leader in this field, more so than San Francisco, and that it had brought great economic benefits to the city.

I also celebrate the Tony awards. There is so much to celebrate, including our wonderful President, Michael D. Higgins, who is described in the article referred to by Senator Barrett as an Irish left-wing poet and human rights campaigner. We can be justifiably and immensely proud of him. He warned that if the current economic model continued to be imposed from the centre of Europe we "risk social upheaval and a loss of popular legitimacy". It is a very significant warning.

There is also the question of separating banking and sovereign losses, which I raise in the context of another article by Mr. Jamie Smyth, who did the interview with the President. It is very interesting that at approximately the time President Higgins was elected, there was a secret meeting in Dublin, under the auspices of something called "the clearing house", between the Government and huge financial interests, including hedge funds and banks, who wanted tax and other advantages for capitalism. Ms Nessa Childers, who is a remarkable, independent-minded and visionary MEP and who attended the House no later than yesterday, discovered this through a freedom of information request. She said the bankers and the hedge fund industry got virtually everything they asked for while the public got hit with a raft of austerity measures. Nothing could underline more President Higgins's visionary comments.