Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Níl aon amhras faoi ach go bhfuil ábhar thar a bheith suimiúil á phlé anseo inniu. Is dócha gur fiú, ó am go chéile, dul siar ar bhóithrín na smaointe agus ar bhóithrín na staire. Tá stair an-shuimiúil ag an tír seo agus tá an-chuid ceachtanna le foghlaim ón stair. Sin an chúis go bhfuil an t-ábhar seo ar an gclár inniu, chun seo a thógaint suas chun dáta agus chun go mbeidh sé lárnach d'aon rud atá ag tarlú sa tír i láthair na huaire.

I welcome the Minister. I wish to pay tribute to him because he epitomises some of the things I regard as very essential in parliamentary democracy, namely, accessibility and consultation. Those marks are very evident in the Minister, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan.

It is a very interesting subject before us today. When it appeared on the schedule, every person I met in the corridor asked "What is this about?", and we had the same on the Order of Business this morning. There is nothing wrong with that. I had to do a little homework myself just to be brought up to date. It is interesting that it is on this very date - 18 June - 750 years ago that what is now known as the Irish Parliament came into existence. It is true that Ireland has had parliamentary assemblies down through the centuries and right up to Grattan's Parliament, which lasted for 18 years and, to some extent, was seen as an independent Parliament.

Following the 1798 rebellion in Wexford it became evident, from a British point of view, that they had to do something about the Irish situation, and the Act of Union followed two years later. We all know what the Act of Union did to Ireland. It was absolutely and utterly devastating in every sense of the word, so much so that millions of people had to leave this country. As a result, the Irish diaspora today is one of the most powerful elements of the Irish nation, with 70 million people of Irish extraction throughout the world. When one compares that to the number of people still left on the island of Ireland, it gives an indiction that, at times, there may be good in something that may be bad in a given sense.

There is no doubt the Irish diaspora has played in big role, even in the more modern political issues of the Northern Troubles. The Irish diaspora played an exceptionally big role in the United States in being able to get across to President Bill Clinton the importance of the issue which was being discussed. I would also say the same was true of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. I have always felt that he too, with his own Irish background, took on board in a more serious manner some of the issues which had to be addressed. Even among those who had great desires for the future, I do not believe the people really saw the peace process or the Good Friday Agreement becoming what it did become.

The first real Irish Parliament was Dáil Éireann, where the will of the people was sovereign or, in other words, the people were responsible for putting Dáil Éireann in position. That is why, at all times, we will look to 1919 as the period when the Irish people were given an opportunity to truly represent themselves in a sovereign independent State without any outside interference whatsoever.

With regard to those who questioned me in the corridors of Leinster House as to why this was on the agenda, we can be exceptionally busy, and we are busy at present because of the challenges with which we are faced, particularly economic challenges and so on. However, there is a lot to be learned from history. If we make the same mistakes again that were made in history, then we must take the blame for that. There is so much to be learned from Irish history that I truly believe it is good to have a debate like this.

I raised an issue on the Order of Business and our good Leader, Senator Maurice Cummins, told me to avail of this opportunity to raise it. The issue is in regard to the programme for the 1916 centenary commemoration in 2016. While I am not opening a debate on that here, I would love to see the Minister come back on another day to discuss that with us.

I wanted to take the opportunity to raise a particular issue, which relates to Volunteer Thomas Kent, who is buried in Cork Jail. It is an issue I have raised in the Seanad over the past ten to 12 years. Really and truly, we owe it to his memory and to the memory of all the people of 1916, those who were executed, those who died and those who sacrificed themselves for Ireland. It is not fitting to have his mortal remains lying in Cork Jail. When I campaigned for the forgotten ten volunteers in Mountjoy all those years ago, including Kevin Barry, in order that they would be repatriated, as they were, I still remember the affection and admiration from the thousands of people who turned out to witness that cortege. I must say RTE did a fantastic job on that occasion. I ask that the Minister might put this at the top of his priority list. We have interacted with the family and they are in agreement, so there is really no obstacle to doing this, perhaps in 2016.

To come back to the matter under discussion, and the point on the importance of learning from history, I believe we should always be reforming legislators. In regard to this House, there are opportunities that we can use to bring about reform. Our history is multifaceted and colourful in many ways.

At the same time, if we are really learning, we must ask why this House has not been used as a forum for people in Northern Ireland to speak. We should change the rules so they can be represented here. If we do that we will not only commemorate the past but celebrate it. It would be lovely if people of both traditions from Northern Ireland could be part of proceedings in this House, rather than merely read the official record subsequently. When the Orange Order made a presentation here it was said to be mould-breaking. The representatives were open in their views and apologetic for some things that happened.

I believe the severity of the Whip should be reduced in this House, even if this does not happen in the Dáil. We should have free votes to allow people to express themselves freely rather than say what the Whip wants. This should not apply on all issues but if it can be done in the House of Commons it can be done here. If we want to commemorate what happened 750 years ago in Castledermot we should try to go further. In 750 years, when people look back on what we did in this House they might see that we tried to create a link between the present and the past.