Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach and wish him well for the next two, three, four or five years. I commiserate with my friend, Senator Rose Conway-Walsh, who I am delighted to see here today. We are coming from a background over the last 35 years of very difficult times. Today, Ireland is the 12th most peaceful country on the planet. A lot of people from all political parties have worked extremely hard to bring that situation about with the Anglo-Irish Agreement and the Good Friday Agreement and its implementation. In the last Dáil, I was Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. A great deal of good work has gone on there and it is great today to see Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile coming down from Belfast as a Member of the Seanad. He will be a valued Member.

I would like to ensure that we talk about a united Ireland. We need to unite the people of Ireland. I was in Wales yesterday for the opening of the Welsh Assembly. There is a Parliament in Scotland, an Assembly in Northern Ireland, a House of Commons and a House of Lords and this House along with the Dáil and a lot more work can be done to bring together politicians from all parts to see what is done. In this building in the last three or four years, we have had meetings of the North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association with MLAs coming from the North and meeting in this room but it has gone unnoticed because it has not been reported on. It has meant a huge difference for me in terms of getting to know politicians from the other side. We sat in this Chamber and in Stormont.

There will be a great many serious issues to debate and I look forward to debating them. I was honoured to be a Member here from 2002 to 2007 and I am also honoured to be the Taoiseach's nominee. He chose extremely well. We talk about politics and it is a race to the bottom sometimes, but politicians come from their own backgrounds. Everyone here comes from a background that they can contribute. We were not all born politicians. We were born in business or academia or wherever else. I am very happy that there are so many Independents and parties here today who are willing to contribute. They will contribute very well to the next Seanad. The coming weeks will tell on one issue, which is the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom. Whatever happens will have profound implications for our State. Whatever happens in the coming months, I look forward to the debate in the Seanad on the implications of Britain staying in or going out. I am delighted to be here today and look forward to working with the Cathaoirleach and everyone else to ensure that this is the best Seanad we have ever had.