Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his election. We do not know each other. I have only gone to Kerry on holidays. However, I look forward to working and serving with the Cathaoirleach. I also look forward to serving in the Seanad and serving the people of Ireland in all of their diversity.

I look forward to working with the Leader and Deputy Leader. It is a great honour to work alongside the skilled and talented representatives who are all across the House. I pay tribute to Senator Doherty for the exceptional job she did in her previous role as Minister, in particular the incredibly compassionate, decisive and leadership position she took throughout the crisis. I am proud to serve as her party colleague.

I am a new Senator who was nominated by the Taoiseach at the behest of our party leader, the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar. Despite what Senator Craughwell might assert, I strongly believe that I am here to serve the people of Ireland and be a voice for people hailing from all backgrounds. It is my privilege to do so.

I was interested to hear the comments about the coalition. It is a unique Government and coming together of three parties, particularly two of them. As I signed the roll today, we were each given a bag - a "party bag" - that contained the Standing Orders of the House and the Bunreacht. The latter describes how a Government comes about and a Taoiseach is elected, that being through a majority voting for him or her and giving him or her the legitimacy of the Lower House. The parties came together despite their reservations, fears and histories and have proudly done so. In doing that, my party sought the contribution of members and councillors and allowed us to participate in contributing to the programme for Government. Our contributions and emphasis on representing the people are found throughout that programme for Government.

Regarding the coming together of two of the parties, I would like to think I will bring a unique insight to the House. I am a proud Dublin supporter. I am proud to be buzzing for the half dozen and I hope to deny Mayo and Kerry this year. However, I am also the daughter of a proud Mayo woman. I have brought the pride of my family from Killala in Mayo with me today. I am in the perhaps unique position of understanding the complexities of rivals working together in the same house.

Over the course of this Seanad, we will uniquely commemorate significant events in the history of the State - its foundation and the horror of the Civil War. Unlike many of my esteemed colleagues in the House, I have no person of note from either side of the divide in my family history. However, I have heroes who were ordinary working people who worked hard for their families throughout the State's history and prior to its founding. I hope that their voices will be represented as we commemorate those events in our State's history.

As I travelled to the Seanad today, it was moving to see the lights on in businesses that had been closed for so long and parents queuing up outside childcare centres to bring their children back to childcare. It was moving to see normal life, albeit social distanced, beginning to resume. We have honoured the front-line workers in all their different hues from the postman to the nurses and doctors, and rightly so, but it is also important that we honour the people who struggled in working from home, the parents who struggled with children with special needs, and the small businesses that had to close down and sacrifice in putting the health of our nation first. We must have a place where we can remember them while also finding a way as a nation to mourn those who have been lost.

I look forward to serving in what I hope will be a highly effective Seanad. I passionately believe in supporting the ambitious programme for Government. I look forward to continued support for SMEs, given the significant employment they provide in our communities. I also look forward to the work of the previous Government being built on in terms of implementing universal standards of childcare and building more housing. It is not true to say that housing has not been built. It has been increasing year on year, and will increase further over the period of the new Government.

We stand here to serve, enabled by the people in our lives who allow us to be here. I stand here with the support of my husband, David, who is upstairs looking down; my daughter, Scarlett, who sacrifices being with her mother while I am out serving the community; my parents, who have cocooned since March; our family and friends; and my Fine Gael family in the constituency of Dublin South-Central. I am honoured to be here and I look forward to working and serving with the Cathaoirleach, whom I wish the best in his role.