David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ladies and gentlemen and fellow Senators, it is, first of all, my great pleasure and honour to welcome you to this magnificent Chamber. It is a privilege to work in a place of such aesthetic beauty and I hope that it will not be too long before the necessary repairs are completed and Seanad Éireann can return permanently to its proper home.

When I was elected some 30 years ago, this room was also closed for refurbishment and for the first term, we met in the ante chamber. However, I managed to sneak in and examine the ceiling, which I at once identified as the work of the master stuccadore of the 18th century, Michael Stapleton. The entire central section and the apse were unstable and had to be replaced. It amuses me sometimes when I hear visitors to Leinster House look up at Stapleton’s great ceiling and say, "Ah Jaysus, they could do great work in them days but they couldn’t do it now. They don’t have the talent." I then explain to them that one third of the ceiling is a completely modern reinstatement and that even I could not tell the difference, so Ireland most definitely still has the talent.

That talent politically expressed is to be found here today in the Members of Seanad Éireann. There is, of course, criticism of some of the methods of election and selection by which Members arrive in the House but very few would deny the ability and capacity of virtually all Members. I might, however, be forgiven a degree of amusement at the presence of a number of new Members or, indeed, former Members who campaigned vigorously for the abolition of the very House in which they now sit. To show how complex political life is, despite their dismissive attitude, I recognised their genuine contribution to public life and I voted for some of them. In addition to welcoming the new Senators, I must say that there is also a sense of loss in the absence of some valued Members who sadly were unsuccessful in the recent election. I think in particular of Maurice Cummins and Dr. Sean Barrett. Maurice Cummins was certainly the best Leader I have encountered in a long career as a Senator. It is a sidelight on the exigencies of the political system that it so signally failed to recognise his qualities despite his sterling record perhaps-----