Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join the Cathaoirleach in thanking all the staff here and I know some of them had a very late night. I hope we will not be still here at 2.40 a.m. tomorrow. I thank all the staff for facilitating us and the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to use the Chamber. It has been a particular honour and I have now sat in this Chamber as a Senator for more days than I did as a Deputy.

This is the final day before the summer recess and although the Houses will not sit, there are cheap headlines coming from certain journalists that seem to suggest Members of the Oireachtas are going on six weeks of holidays. It is incumbent on the Houses of the Oireachtas press office to address this. Members will take a break.I hope everyone enjoys it and spends time in Ireland. I will be taking a few days in Galway. I hope the Deputy Leader will come to Wexford. The idea that Members do not work when the Houses are not sitting is misinformed and nonsense. People here will be working on policy, meeting with different groups and dealing with individual representations. I ask that the Houses of the Oireachtas look at addressing some of those misleading headlines.

We will not be sitting in August but it was in August 1970 that the Social Democratic and Labour Party was formed. The men and women involved in those early days consistently advocated policies that, through peaceful means, supported engagement, conciliation, social justice, the unity of this island and Ireland playing a constructive role within the European Union. Leaders such as Gerry Fitt, Seamus Mallon, Austin Currie and Bríd Rodgers charted a difficult course but it was the position advocated by the SDLP that ultimately underpinned the peace process. The SDLP was, of course, led by John Hume for a long time. I consider him the greatest living Irish person. His actions more than anyone else's led to the peace process that shapes Ireland's future. In that regard, I am sure the Deputy Leader and other Members of the House will join with me in wishing the current leader of the SDLP, Colm Eastwood, and its members a very happy 50th birthday and in thanking that party for the enormous contribution it has made in shaping the future of this island.