Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Last night, I presented Mr. Neal with an Irish flag that had been flown from the same building that Thomas Francis Meagher flew a tricolour from for the first time back in 1848. When he was asked of its meaning, Meagher said: "The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between orange and green and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood." I could not imagine that when he said those words nearly 175 years ago, he would imagine that in this Seanad there would be a man who is giving life to those words. I thank Congressman Neal.