Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Boyhan's proposal that No. 24, motion 8, on the Order Paper be taken before No. 1.

I join colleagues in expressing my deep disappointment with respect to the Finucane murder. It is important to remember that Pat Finucane was the highest profile person killed in Northern Ireland through collusion but there were hundreds of others, and a truth commission in Northern Ireland is needed to allow the purging of all the horrendous crimes that took place during the Troubles.

I woke up this morning to the news about Arcadia, which is a massive retail outlet. While watching the news, I saw Sir Philip Green, the chairman of Arcadia, get on his yacht. Is it not funny that in every such case, these chairpersons and people who are at the top of the heap get on their yachts and head off to the sun and leave behind devastated workers? More than 490 workers will be affected by what is going to happen to Topshop, one of the brands under which Arcadia operates in this country. Not unlike in the case of Debenhams, much of the stock will now be sold online.The people of Ireland who are now desperately buying stuff online because of Covid-19 should remember that, if they are buying former Debenhams products or products from Topshop, they are buying products that have put people out of work. I hear a lot of talk about Christmas. However, there will be no Christmas for the 490 odd workers from the Arcadia Group. There will be no Christmas for the people standing outside Debenhams doors just looking for a decent redundancy payment. The chairpersons of these organisations, however, will be on their yachts or in their Maseratis driving off to the sun. The people need to speak by not supporting these super-rich people.