Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

An uair deireanach a bhí an Taoiseach agus mé féin os comhair a chéile, bhíomar i bparlús an ardmhéara i mBéal Feirste. Seo muid anois in Seanad Éireann agus tá sé deas an Taoiseach a fheiceáil. Ciorcal mór an tsaoil a chuirtear ar sin i gColáiste Feirste, seanscoil seo agamsa.

I welcome the Taoiseach's commitment this week to convene the national dialogue on the Brexit issue. Of course, that dialogue should be national in the truest sense of the word. It should include achan chearn den tír seo and I look forward, regardless of the disgruntled remarks of others, to seeing as wide a representation as possible at that conversation to seek to assist the Taoiseach and the Government in ploughing a way through the choppy waters that have been forced upon us against our will. The Taoiseach, I need not remind him, has a clear obligation to stand up for the best interests of Ireland in her entirety. He has a mandate from the people in the North that is clear in the people's ambition and aspiration to stay and to keep Ireland in her entirety in the EU.

Mura miste leis an Taoiseach, labhróidh mé fosta faoi chearta vótála i dtoghcháin uachtaránachta. It has been rightly referred to by Senator Lawless, in terms of the remarks of the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, earlier this year, that a referendum would be sought to be held early next year to extend the franchise of presidential voting rights to the diaspora. That is the proper thing to do. It is in line with the best practice of other states and countries around the world. I want to know if, as outlined clearly by the Constitutional Convention and by a broad range of civic and political opinion in the North, the same enfranchisement and democratic right will be afforded to me and to the hundreds of thousands of people like me in the North who are Irish citizens and who wish to vote for their President, who of course is not the President of a land mass but the President of the Irish people in their entirety as well. Perhaps the Taoiseach can confirm for me, without pre-empting the outcome of a referendum, although I would be reasonably confident heading in to one, that when that referendum is held, it will not only seek to extend the democratic right to vote in presidential elections to the diaspora but will also include Irish citizens north of the Border.