Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That volume of the Seanad's proceedings must be one of the most poetic that one will find in a Parliament anywhere. The words of Henry Grattan come to mind when he achieved legislative independence in 1782:

I found Ireland upon her knees, I watched over her with a paternal solicitude; I have traced her progress from injuries to arms and from arms to liberty. Spirit of Swift! Spirit of Molyneux! your genius has prevailed. Ireland is now a nation!

As the Minister has said, what a pity it is that that did not last. It was a major disaster for this country.
Grattan's Parliament was endorsed by the Parliament of Great Britain in an Act of 1783, which states:

... the said right claimed by the people of Ireland to be bound only by laws enacted by His Majesty and the Parliament of that Kingdom, in all cases ... shall be, and it is hereby declared to be established and ascertained for ever, and shall, at no time hereafter, be questioned or questionable.

But a negotiation that we thought was to last forever did not last longer than 18 years. The great parliamentarian and the Minister's fellow county man, Daniel O'Connell, speaking in Drogheda in June 1843, said:

I want to make all Europe and America know it - I want to make England feel her weakness if she refuses to give the justice we require - the restoration of our domestic parliament.

In that period, our contribution to Parliaments has been immense. I think of Burke, Butt, Redmond, Parnell, O'Connell, Henry Grattan and Thomas D'Arcy McGee in Canada. We are good at Parliaments, and we should never forget that. I am glad that in the centenary celebrations the parliamentary tradition is being honoured by the Minister. The bullet at Sarajevo that killed the archduke also killed Home Rule for this country, and we could have achieved through Parliament much of what caused so much trouble and violence afterwards. I am glad that Redmond is being honoured in our celebrations.
Sometimes in the Parliaments they enjoyed themselves, no one being better at that than Boyle Roche, the MP for Tralee. I think Senator Ned O'Sullivan continues some of his traditions. Roche had great sayings and was the master of the mixed metaphor, including "Half the lies our opponents tell about us are untrue," "The cup of Ireland's misery has been overflowing for centuries and is not yet half full," "The only thing to prevent what's past is to put a stop to it before it happens," and "Mr. Speaker, I smell a rat; I see him forming in the air and darkening the sky; but I will nip him in the bud." That was a great tradition of Kerry wit which Senator O'Sullivan brings to the House. He said the other day that one should always quit when one is behind, which is probably just as beneficial as quitting when one is ahead.
In recent times, I have been delighted to see Parliaments reinstated in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff. That is a wonderful development. I compliment our Sinn Féin colleagues, the DUP, the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist Party on making Parliament work in a society which was traditionally one of violence. I commend the Leader on his reforms here and on the distinguished speakers whom he has invited. I commend him on today's commemoration and on inviting the Orange Order here. I commend Senator Bacik on her part in it, too. I commend also the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, through which citizens can relate to what goes on here.
Have I worries? Yes, I do. The Executive is far too powerful in Ireland and seeks to dominate the Parliament. We see instances of this all the time. It was a mistake to abolish democratic elections in Gaeltacht areas. It was a mistake for the Government to try to abolish this House and not to accept its recent decision on the composition of the banking inquiry committee. We are going to do a good job anyway, but sometimes the Executive has to have more respect for Parliament. I agree with speakers who have said that the whip tradition demeans Irish politics. Could we not have even 2% or 3% of votes where people are allowed out from the scourge of the whip?
We have to be wary of the undermining of Parliament by budget-maximising bureaucrats, many of whom bristle when one tries to call them to account in this House of Parliament. We have to resist that. We are not dealing quickly enough with the well-funded lobbyists, the termites, who undermine Parliaments everywhere. Why are there far more lobbyists in Washington than parliamentarians?
We have to be vigilant for Parliament. It is a precious flower. It is a major gift to the better ordering of society and the alternative to robber barons. Elections, as we find out from time to time, bring us back in touch with the electorate. This is a great day. We are talking about a tradition that extends through Henry Grattan, Edmund Burke, Daniel O'Connell, Charles Stewart Parnell and Isaac Butt. It is a terrific tradition and long may it continue. I thank the Minister for addressing us today.