Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate everyone involved in the recent presidential state visit to the United Kingdom, which was an extraordinary success. I had the privilege of being a guest of the Lord Mayor of London at the Guildhall banquet and accompanied the President to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon on Friday morning. It was extraordinary and for everyone, the big winners were the Irish in Britain of all classes, successes and ages and of diverse backgrounds. An extraordinary, deeper connection has been made to the diaspora in Britain, thanks to our wonderful President's visit there and I congratulate everyone concerned.

Arising from that is a debate on commemoration and whether members of the royal family should visit and be a part thereof. I would consider this to be a constructive debate and irrespective of whether my views necessarily are in tandem with those of others in respect of such a visit, a debate should be held on it. I call on the Leader to have such a debate in this House and perhaps to invite the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht or someone who is in charge of the national commemorations - perhaps even the Taoiseach - to have a sophisticated, diverse debate on the commemorations. It is only two years away and one is reading about it more in the newspapers rather than actually having a debate in this House, that is, on how citizens should commemorate both the rebellion of 1916 and the Battle of the Somme on 1 July.

In one further point, I wish to alert my fellow Senators that the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill is coming before the House today. Senators van Turnhout, Zappone and I are proposing an amendment to the Bill that seeks a plebiscite for the citizens of Dublin to have their say on whether they wish to have a directly-elected mayor of this city. We are making a proposal as it is an opportune moment to so do. The aforementioned Bill is timely because of the Godsil case against the Attorney General. This legislation constitutes swift action on the part of the Government and I believe there also should be swift action to enable the citizens of Dublin to have a say in whether they would wish to have a directly-elected mayor. It is an opportunity for the Government to show leadership and to illustrate its stated appetite for political reform by having a debate-----