Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to join in the very warm welcome to Senator Gerard Craughwell on his membership of Seanad Éireann and to welcome him to this House. I congratulate him, his wife Helen, his son David and his daughter Rebecca on this great achievement for the family. Senator Craughwell is a former president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland from 2012 to 2014. He played a very important role in that union; indeed the former Minister of Education, Mary O'Rourke told me during the campaign that she knows Senator Craughwell very well and has great admiration for him, and when Mary says that, she means it. She enjoyed working with him in the Department of Education. Senator Craughwell joined the Army at a young age and then went on to qualify as a teacher. I welcome the fact that he is from Salthill in our neighbouring County, County Galway.

I also welcome the new Deputies that are coming into the Oireachtas - Deputies Michael Fitzmaurice and Paul Murphy. I commiserate with all the other candidates who ran in the by-election last Friday, 10 October, particularly Councillor Ivan Connaughton who headed the poll in Roscommon-South Leitrim, and to John Lahart who polled well in the other constituency. They were very courageous in putting their names forward and all the other candidates who ran in that election played a very important role in the democratic structure. I wish them all well in the future.

I also wish to say, in case anyone has any doubts, that Deputy Micheál Martin, the Fianna Fáil Party leader, played a very important role----