Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Taoiseach. I am delighted to see the Taoiseach here to address us. This is important and we appreciate it. No better man than the Taoiseach to be here because, of all the party leaders, he was the only one in these buildings who stood by the Seanad when it was fighting for survival. I thank him for that.

It is Deputy Micheál Martin's fate, and ours, that he is Taoiseach in the middle of what is probably the worst crisis this country has faced in many years. The last was probably the Emergency. The country had good leadership then. We were in good hands then and we are in good hands now. The only difference I see is that de Valera had 95% support in Leinster House for the difficult decisions he had to make during the war. Now it seems the national interest is playing a very poor second to party interests and populist irresponsibility. That represents a sad day. In my 35 years as a public representative, I never believed I would see that day coming. It makes me worried about the future.

The Taoiseach showed his courage and mettle by introducing the smoking ban, which I supported, and by standing by the Seanad and taking a courageous stance on the question of the eighth amendment and other social issues. I do not doubt that he will continue to give good leadership.

My colleagues have spoken about the shared island initiative. It is very important. I hope the Taoiseach will persist with it. It is the way forward. The Good Friday Agreement was founded on engagement, consensus and dialogue. I am afraid we are starting to hear a lot of the old, tired rhetoric and narrative that got us nowhere for nearly 100 years. There are those who are calling for a Border poll right now. This is highly irresponsible. The shared island unit can bring all the various strands of opinion together. There is no point in people having big meetings around the country and talking to themselves.The Taoiseach's shared island unit wants to talk to all sides. As Senators Blaney and McGreehan said, we have to talk to everybody. I was very proud that the Government was represented at the religious function in Armagh. It was very important to rectify a situation that had deteriorated very rapidly. I am very proud to see Deputy Micheál Martin here as Taoiseach, I am proud he is my Taoiseach and I am proud he is leader of my party.