Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom focal nó dhó a rá faoin Seanadóir Norris freisin. I just wanted to congratulate Senator Norris on a significant personal milestone. I am sure it means the world to him to have all of us queuing up to throw rose petals at his feet. No one is worthier in this Chamber because it is a special day for Senator Norris. Many other Members know him much better and much longer and are much more authoritative in their assertions. While there are many issues where he and I would diverge in our opinion, there are many more where we are completely in concert. As a voice for progress and voice for social justice in Ireland he and I are very much at one.

Given the subject matter and the contributions in recent weeks and months, I bring to Members' attention the Gaelic Voices For Change initiative. Past and present GAA county players will sleep out to raise awareness of the escalating housing and homeless crisis in Ireland. The event is supported by the Gaelic Players Association and the Women's Gaelic Players Association. They have announced that sleep-outs will take place in Dublin, Belfast, Portlaoise, Galway, Cork, Limerick, and Carlow. More locations will be announced in the coming days. Players and squads wishing to register can do so online until next Monday. They are also looking for help and volunteer action in respect of tea and coffee, food, sleeping bags, music and everything else that can be done to assist them to highlight a serious issue that blights our society. As we head into the Christmas period in particular, though it should always be to the fore of our minds, it shows an example of the best of the GAA and that Gaelic ethos that county players, both current and former from across the various codes, are queuing up to take part in this initiative on 16 December. I am flagging this to Members to encourage them to look out for it in their local area and to lend it whatever support they can and to allow it to act as a reminder to us who actually have a degree of influence and political clout to do more in respect of our homelessness crisis.