Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I add my congratulations to the two new Senators and wish them well. I listened to their maiden speeches online and I was very impressed by them both. I had not made the connection between Senator Lawlor and his illustrious mother, who came into the Seanad on the same path as a cousin of mine, Kit Ahern, who was also president of the ICA. She finished up in the Dáil subsequent to being a Senator. I congratulate Senator Marshall on his success, on accepting the nomination to contest, then canvassing and being elected and, most important, coming down here and taking his seat. It is groundbreaking for us.

Senator Rose Conway-Walsh was very forthcoming on the rationale for Sinn Féin's vote in one of the papers but not so forthcoming as regards the second paper, on which Sinn Féin supported Fine Gael in the ongoing love that dares not speak its name. I repeat my call to Sinn Féin to take a leaf out of Senator Marshall's book by taking their seats in Westminster, at a time when Ireland needs a nationalist, pro-Europe, anti-Brexit voice. A number of people are sitting on their backsides instead of going over there and working for the people who elected them.