Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group in the Seanad, I extend my deepest sympathies on the terrible and tragic events over the weekend with the loss of ten people in the fire in Carrickmines which, as the Leader has said, has also left two children fighting for their lives. We wish those children a speedy recovery. It was a desperate and terrible tragedy and was the largest number of fatalities from a fire since the Stardust disaster. We remember also those families who still seek justice for their relatives who died in the Stardust disaster. I am sure the Government and the emergency services will carry out proper investigations in due course as to what happened in Carrickmines to ensure this type of incident cannot happen again. I pay tribute to the emergency services, the members of the fire brigade, the HSE National Ambulance Service and the gardaí who attended the scene and did everything they could to save as many lives as possible.

I pass on my deepest sympathies to the family of Garda Tony Golden, his young children, his wife and his parents, and to his colleagues on that brutal and disgusting murder in Omeath. It occurred just a couple of short years after the demise of a colleague of his, Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, who was also murdered in the line of duty in the same area. Unfortunately, his murderers are still at large. For me, as I am sure for every other colleague, the murder reinforces the crucial job the Garda and emergency services carry out day to day in the service of this State and protecting this State against criminals. All we can hope is that these events do not recur. We must look at how we can protect gardaí further when working in the line of duty. Our main thoughts are with Garda Tony Golden's family, friends and colleagues on what is an absolutely awful tragedy for those in County Louth, especially in Omeath. My thoughts and prayers and those of my party colleagues are with them and with the relatives of the ten people, five of whom were children, who perished in the awful fire that took place in Carrickmines over the weekend.

With that in mind, I do not propose to go through any other business. We will have budget statements afterwards and we will discuss other matters of political discourse over the coming days. I confine my comments to those two very serious items. I wish and hope that some solace is given to the families and, on behalf of myself and my colleagues in Fianna Fáil, I wish them our deepest sympathies.