Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuireann sé gliondar chroí orm mo sheanchara, Donncha Ó Donnabháin, a fheiscint tofa mar Chathaoirleach ar Seanad Éireann. Tá an gradam seo fíor tuillte aige, mar is duine agus polaiteoir den chéad scoth é. Guím rath Dé ar an obair tábhachtach atá roimhe. It is a great joy for me personally to see my old friend elected as Cathaoirleach of the Seanad. He was elected virtually by acclaim - almost unprecedented acclaim. In fairness to Sinn Féin Senators who it is clear were entitled to put forward their own very able candidate, even the ranks of Tuscany could scarcely forbear from cheering when the Cathaoirleach was elected. That is a tribute to his standing in Leinster House, both formerly as a Deputy, latterly as a Senator and today as Cathaoirleach. As Senator Mark Daly said, he has proved himself in the arena. He and I were elected to local government in June 1985 - he was elected in County Cork, while I was elected in County Kerry. He has fought a great fight for his party and his beliefs in the council, the Dáil and the Seanad, from the hard cockpit of real politics in west Cork. He is a credit to his party, supporters and Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony and, of course, a great credit to his partner, Eileen, his brothers, sisters and the rest of his family. It is a proud day for him and I am glad to be here to share it with him.

This will be a great Seanad. I like new politics, but there will only be new politics when we are in a situation where we have to make it work. We have many templates from elsewhere in Europe where there are minority governments, but we are Irish and will do it the Irish way. However, we will have to learn. We will have to invent our own wheel and I am sure we will do so in both the Dáil and the Seanad.

I compliment my former colleague, Senator Jerry Buttimer, who is a great choice as Leader. He will find himself in the funny position where he will be poacher turned gamekeeper because when he was here last, he gave the then Leader an awful time. It will be fun watching how he will progress.

I will mention only one former Member. We all sense the loss of the former Leader, former Senator Maurice Cummins. He was a pure gentleman who was popular on all sides of the House. He gave great service as Leader, but that is politics - good and bad things happen. However, he is still a young man and beidh lá eile aige.

I will not make a long speech, but we have lots to do and what an eclectic bunch we have. Naturally enough, the media will focus on the Independents, the university Senators and those on the left. However, we should not forget that those of us from rural areas of Cork, Kerry and Donegal have plenty to say here also.