Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a Chinese proverb that states "May you live in interesting times", which I discovered some years ago is an insult, not an aspiration. Politically, we are living in very interesting times. In England, there is a practice that when a barrister is being promoted to the bench, he or she does not receive a letter or a telephone call but actually gets what is called a tap on the shoulder. I have no doubt but that many Members of both Houses are wandering around today, waiting for the tap on the shoulder. It is a great honour for people to be elected to public office in the first instance and then to be promoted to higher office and, consequently, Members on this side of the House wish every success to those who will be among that lucky few. However, I am sure Members will deal with that issue on another day.

Yesterday, several thousand people converged on Leinster House for a rally - I use the word "rally" as it was not a protest as such - of rural Ireland, that is, of the ordinary, decent, hard-working people of rural Ireland who in many cases are finding their jobs and communities to be under severe threat as a result of the inaction of the Government in not coming up with a clear solution to and resolution of the ongoing controversy surrounding the future of the county development boards. I compliment all those who organised the rally and acknowledge that Mr. Jack Roche from Cork, who has been a pioneer of the promotion of rural values for many decades, was one of its leaders.