Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join in extending our sympathy to Senator Eamonn Coghlan on the death of his mother and in extending my good wishes to our friend and colleague, Senator Harte. I hope he will make a very speedy recovery and that we will have his good humour and wit back in this House before very long. Our thoughts are with him and his family at this very difficult time.

I join in the joy to see our friend and colleague, Ms Jody Blake, back with us and looking so well. It is good to see that smile back in the Chamber once more. I welcome the announcement yesterday that President Higgins will make an historic visit to the UK in April. It reflects the growing maturity and excellent relations between our countries. We are all very conscious of the very fragile peace process we have in Northern Ireland and I hope this visit will help in a meaningful way. As elected Members, we all need to play a part in cementing that peace process and now that Seanad Éireann has a renewed mandate, I ask the Leader to reactivate our invitation to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to come to the House so we can have some discussions on the peace process and how we as Members of Seanad Éireann can help.

On a related matter, we are getting closer to 2016, which could be a very significant day for many of us in this House. I ask the Leader for a debate with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on plans to commemorate the 1916 Rising and other significant centenaries we will celebrate in the following years. There is concern out there that not enough effort and thought are being put into marking this very significant historical event. Historically, we need to mark it but there is also an opportunity to bring many people into our country over the next number of years to build on the tremendous work done during The Gathering. We will have so many significant events to mark, it would be a pity if this is not well organised, marketed and planned in an appropriate manner.