Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I should have said that 1 million people would elect six Senators but that there are 4 million people who are not university graduates who would have no say at all on that. Let us remember that.

The point I want the acting Leader to take on board is the need to discuss the outcome of the Northern elections. Some 63 of the 90 people elected are comfortable with the Northern Ireland protocol and yet the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and his Cabinet are trying to use it as leverage to get an advantage in their broader negotiations with the EU. By the same token, less than one third of those elected want a Border poll in the next five years. That is a reality. This House needs to discuss how we get the institutions up and running and how we get everybody to co-operate on the bread and butter issues and end the polarisation of politics into this ridiculous dispute of demanding action on the protocol, when 63 of the MLAs are happy with the protocol and represent a majority of the people of Northern Ireland, and demanding an early Border poll, which is bound to be defeated.