Joan Freeman (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is nice to be back. I thank my Seanad colleagues for some of the lovely messages of support during the recent presidential election.

Besides encountering incredible community initiatives around the country during the campaign, the night before the election, my family presented with me with a medallion, on the back of which was inscribed, "Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the determination to do something in spite of fear."