Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too extend sympathies on behalf of the Sinn Féin group to Deputy Bailey and all of her family.

I rise in the midst of ongoing controversy and preparations by the Cabinet for a no-deal Brexit. I understand from coverage at the weekend and remarks made by the Tánaiste that he will make statements to the other House about the Government's preparedness and the ongoing work on the series of memos going before Cabinet this evening. I appreciate that we have a very busy schedule this week, but if there is an opportunity, I ask the Leader to invite the Tánaiste or another Minister before the House to make similar statements on Brexit before we rise for the summer break. The months ahead will be a period of crucial and critical importance for Ireland and the EU overall.Given that the House has worked so openly on this matter, by means of the work of the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU and on legislation such as the Omnibus Bill, it is important that Senators, with the agreement of Government and colleagues, should have an opportunity to hear from Ministers about the matters that will go before the Cabinet tonight.

The Reverend Harold Good of the Methodist Church in Ireland will be known to many people for his work in peace-building initiatives. He was one of two people to oversee the decommissioning of IRA arms, the other being the late Father Alec Reid. Yesterday, he told Eamonn Mallie that nobody should fear or presume to know Protestant-unionist-loyalist thinking on the debate regarding the issue of a new, agreed and shared Ireland. In light of the purpose of this House as a civic space and a space for discourse at an all-Ireland level, I wish to take this opportunity to commend the Reverend Good on his conscious and thoughtful remarks in recent days, which came on the back of a series of contributions from people such as James Nesbitt, who is from Coleraine, and Baroness Paisley, who is the widow of the late Reverend Ian Paisley, both of whom indicated that it was not incendiary or controversial to have a view or a discussion on this issue. Senators should not shrink from the discussion because we have a safe space in which to hold one, particularly in view of our make-up and our purpose, and we can contribute positively to the live debate that is being held within society.