Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not come into the Chamber to speak about the Middle East but in terms of balance it is important to point out that the most recent bout of violence in Israel started when 11 innocent Israeli citizens were slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists. I did not hear too many shouting about it. It has become an everyday occurrence in Israel for innocent men, women and children to be stabbed at random by Palestinians. I do not hear anyone shouting about that. Certainly the funeral scenes were appalling and shocking. They are the worst I have seen apart from when the two British agents were trapped at a funeral in the North and were savaged and torn to bits before the provos killed them.

I want to speak about something very positive and uplifting. I was delighted to see that this year the organisers of the Béal na Bláth annual ceremony have chosen to invite the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to do the oration jointly. It is fantastic. It is uplifting for someone from my background who was brought up in Civil War politics and all the rest of it. It is a way forward and I hope people might learn from it. It will be a great occasion and there will be a huge turnout for it.

The Civil War fractured the unity of a wonderful band of people who had stood together against British tyranny from 1916 until the treaty. Unfortunately, they split for reasons I will not go into here. It is also important to remember that yesterday was the 96th anniversary of the founding of my party. The first Fianna Fáil meeting was held in the La Scala Theatre in Dublin. We did not wait too long after the Civil War to condemn and move away from futile violence. We turned our backs on violence and played our part to try to keep the gun out of Irish politics. Some people did not learn as fast as we did and kept it going for another 60 years. Thankfully with the Good Friday Agreement it is virtually over and I hope it stays that way.

I welcome the decision by the Government to go ahead with the national maternity hospital. As someone who worked very strongly for the repeal of the eighth amendment I had certain concerns at the outset. I have listened closely to all of the debates.In particular, I listened to Kieran Mulvey on my way up to the Dublin the other day. Now I have no worries about the ownership, management and ethos whatsoever. There is no question, in my view. Those who study it properly will realise that.