Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before I call the Minister of State, Senator Pippa Hackett, I welcome to the Distinguished Visitors' Gallery the United States ambassador to Ireland, H. E. Claire Cronin. The ambassador is distinguished in many ways as she was the first woman to be the majority leader in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Her great-uncle served in the House of Representatives. Her uncle served in the military during the Second World War, in addition to serving in the House of Representatives, and was also the mayor of Brockton, Massachusetts. I know the ambassador is looking forward to her time in Ireland and that she will represent her country with great distinction while she is here. We look forward to deepening the relationships between Ireland and the United States. I imagine that there is no place more Irish than Boston, especially in March. We are grateful for the ambassador's presence in the Chamber and for her service as a legislator in the United States of America. We look forward to her service here as an ambassador. I thank her for coming.

We have before us other distinguished guests I will point out to the ambassador. They include members of the European Parliament; former Senator and now MEP Grace O'Sullivan, Seán Kelly MEP, who was also president of the GAA - I do not know which is a more taxing job, being an MEP or a president of the GAA - and a previous Senator of this House at the tender age of 25, Billy Kelleher, now an MEP, and a former Deputy and Minister.They are being questioned by Senators, inclusive of the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, who is next to address the MEPs.