Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A lot of the time, one hears far too much.

This is a good day for parliamentary democracy worldwide at a time when it needs defending and support. We have seen cavalier attitudes being taken to the democratic process by leaders of two of the largest democracies in the world, namely, the UK Prime Minister, Mr. Boris Johnson, MP, and President Trump across the water in the United States of America. Democracy might not be a perfect system, but show me one better. If we let ourselves down at the top, then we are inviting people to reconsider alternatives, for example, failed systems like Marxism and so on. Whatever we say about the British, their parliamentary system has in many ways been the blueprint for many other parliamentary systems, including ours. In fairness, it is the mother of parliaments, flawed and all as it is. It has afforded opportunities for Irish politicians, be it Parnell or Redmond. Obviously, those politicians had no place of their own to speak, but they took their opportunity over there. I invite Senator Conway-Walsh and her Sinn Féin colleagues to avail of the unique opportunity that is now afforded to them to do something practical in this Brexit debate instead of spending-----