Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Seanad this evening. I thank her for coming to the House to discuss Yeats Day. I also thank Senator O'Keeffe for the hard work she has put into all the celebrations that have taken place.

I am very proud to be contributing to the debate as a Senator from Sligo-Leitrim. William Butler Yeats has contributed so much to our Irish rich literary history and culture. He was very much a Sligo man despite having been born in Dublin. It is only right to celebrate and acknowledge all his achievements on the 150th anniversary of his birth. Yeats Day will be celebrated as part of Yeats day festival taking place in various locations in Sligo this week. Yeats Day is a central pillar of the Yeats 2015 programme, which encompasses many events across Ireland and across the world in 2015.

I acknowledge the vital funding provided by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht towards the programme of events scheduled for Yeats 2015. The Department has assigned €500,000 for the programme and it is intended that additional funding will be secured through philanthropic donations and sponsorship.

It is very appropriate to discuss Yeats in this House owing to the time he spent here as a Senator. He served as a Free State Senator from 1922 to 1928. Throughout his time in the Senate he spoke passionately about matters of social and cultural significance. In 1926 he was involved in designing new coinage for the State. He consistently defended the arts and was very much ahead of his time in defending divorce and opposing the Censorship of Publications Act.

I pay tribute to Yeats, the first Irishman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. He was a prominent driver behind the Irish literary revival in the early 20th century. His writing vastly enriched our literary culture. I come from very close to the Isle of Innisfree. We can sale daily to the Isle of Innisfree on the waterbus, the Rose of Innisfree, which is great for visitors coming to the area. A few miles north of where I come from we can visit Glencar waterfall, mentioned by Senator Mooney. It is very fitting that recently a new visitor centre was opened and we can now enjoy a cup of tea and an ice-cream while having a chat about Yeats in the beautiful coffee shop opened there.

I again thank the Minister for coming to the House.