Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Observing scenes from Westminster and the United States yesterday, one can only be alarmed by the direction politics is taking in two of the world's bastions of democracy. Partisanship and populism risk poisoning politics in western democracies and do little to serve the needs of citizens in a time of mounting global challenges.

I ask colleagues to be mindful of these troubling political developments and to ensure the public interest remains at the heart of politics in this country. It is critical that Irish politics is not lured in the direction of petty populism and deceit. As a candidate in the forthcoming by-election in Cork North Central, I pledge that decency in politics will be a central theme in my campaign. Debate based on passion for issues is a healthy part of any democracy. It is important that proper debate is never confused with some of the false propaganda creeping into political discourse elsewhere.

All of us in this House may have different ways of arguing a case or delivering on policy but we are all here to try to better the life of every citizen in the country and we should never deviate from that and certainly never go down the road that the two most established democracies are now travelling. I ask people to keep that in mind and protect the democratic system in this country over the next few months when we face a very challenging time with what is being proposed for the UK leaving the European Union. Now more than ever we need to protect the livelihood of every citizen in this country. It is an extremely important issue and we, in this House and in all the structures of the democratic system in this country, need to be mindful of that over the next few months.