Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and commend all the staff behind all the hard work. Sinn Féin will be supporting this legislation. While for some this is a fascinating historical project, I am also sure it was quite a laborious task to go through our Statute Book, assessing what needed to be kept and revoked. It is important work and I welcome the fact we are, again, updating our Statute Book to ensure it is as relevant and accessible as possible.

When one takes a look at the Acts involved, one really gets a sense of the turmoil and chaos this State has been built upon. We are dealing with Acts between 1920 and 1950, laws passed during times such as our own Civil War, the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. It was a time of war and uncertainty, evident in the range of emergency Acts passed during those 30 years which we are now repealing.

It is also fascinating to see de Valera's ban on Irish citizens participating in the Spanish Civil War will be repealed. We should not forgot the decision taken by Eoin O'Duffy's Blueshirt brigade to defy that law and to stand shoulder to shoulder with Franco's fascists, while the Connolly Column, led by Frank Ryan, fought for a republic. It is a nice little reminder of where some of the parties in this Chamber actually came from and their heritage.