Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte Uí Cheallaigh roimh Ard-Mhéara Bhéal Feirste, Comhairleoir Hargey. Tréaslaím leis an Seanadóir Ó Donnghaile a chur an rún seo chun cinn. I welcome the mayor wholeheartedly to the Chamber and I compliment my colleague, Senator Ó Donnghaile, who put the matter forward in the first place. Such communication, conversation and association between us is very welcome. I am delighted to get such a positive report from our Cathaoirleach, Senator O'Donovan, from his trip north, and I hope Ms Hargey will find her visit to us equally rewarding. She referred to the great progress that has been made in her native city of Belfast. There is no question or doubt about it that it is wonderful to see that beautiful city of Belfast coming back proud, buoyant and forward-looking, mainly, in our time, as a result of the cessation of violence. People from the South who did not go north during the Troubles are taking advantage of the peace process to visit not only Belfast but all of the Six Counties. I do so regularly. I have very fond memories of Belfast from when I was in education. I had close associations with the teacher training college in St. Joseph's. I have relations in Enniskillen. It is a beautiful town. It is certainly the jewel of the North of Ireland and I would like to see that continue.

I am delighted to hear the mayor say she is working hard for reconciliation because that is the most important part of her work. We have seen examples of reconciliation in the South and in the North and we need to see more of it. I was talking to Senator Marshall just before we came in and telling him that my own town of Listowel, in the height of the Troubles, was twinned with Downpatrick. We had many guests. The mayors of Downpatrick tended to be either unionists or occasionally from the SDLP. We found out that they did not have horns on their heads and they found out that we were okay. They have a racetrack and we have a racetrack. We were able to build on that in a small way.

The mayor has a huge responsibility insofar as she has a high profile in elected office in the North where there is a political vacuum and political wilderness. This is not the occasion to attribute blame and I will not attribute blame except to say that neither side is blameless for that. We want them in the Assembly and I know Ms Hargey would want to see that restored immediately. We do not have nationalist representation in Westminster and 100 years ago, Joseph Devlin represented Belfast Falls and 100 years later, it is sad to say that we have no one over there at a crucial time for Brexit. It has never been more important. Our former President, Mary Robinson, warned yesterday that she is fearful about a resurgence of violence in the North if a hard border comes back. I mentioned that here two weeks ago and was shouted down about it by certain quarters. It is an issue which we have to be careful about and work together on. The mayor's visit is a good day's work and she is welcome.