Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Oireann an Cathaoir duit. The Chair is a good look; it suits the Cathaoirleach. I look forward to working with him. I remember coming in on, I think, my second day in the Seanad. I had no idea what I had let myself in for. I had no clue. Senator Buttimer and I discovered we had a mutual friend in common in Paul Linehan, the lead singer of the Frank and Walters, which was a very good sign because they are a brilliant band. If there are people in the Seanad who have good taste in music, I will cope. That was a very good first mark and I knew we would get on from the word go.

I have a few things to say about Senator Mark Daly because he was Cathaoirleach as long as I have been a Senator. It was the same thing, in that in the first few days, I felt like I was running around like a headless chicken. I had no idea what was going on. Every time I met Mark, he just calmed me down. He did not have to say anything. Just by being in his presence, he calmed me down and I knew I would figure it out. He empowered me to trust I would get there in the end. I really appreciate that.

I will acknowledge a few things the previous Cathaoirleach achieved. There were many, but a few stood out for me. One was the recognition of Irish Sign Language as an official language in Ireland. That meant a huge amount to the deaf community in Ireland. Senator Mark Daly should be very proud of that. It would not have happened without him. The day all the young people were in the Chamber was momentous. We have to get out of the way of young people at this stage. It was so important and I hope we do it again. Comhairle na nÓg, the National Youth Council of Ireland and many good representatives were present. It took place on a Friday and not many Senators were in the House, which was disappointing. However, I would like to do it again, and get young people in to listen to them. We need to get out of their way, in some ways. They are what we need to do. It was really good that Senator Mark Daly brought them in that day and I appreciated it. It was the day I broke my foot. I stayed here working late, but it was worth it. It was a great day and the House needs to do more of that. The Seanad 100 centenary celebrations were remarkable. Not only was it an honour to have Senator Norris and former Senator Mary Robinson come in, which was huge for me, it showed how far we had come as a country.

I was raised in a household of Fianna Fáilers and we did not grow up with a great love for Fine Gael. With this coalition, we have proved that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and - who would have thought it - the Green Party can all work together. We have done remarkable work in the past two and half years, despite the Ukrainian crisis, Brexit, Covid and all the stuff that gets thrown at us by the media, which twist little personal things into huge deals while we are busy working very hard. We have managed to block out the noise, stay focused and get many good things done. I was not sure how it would work out, to be honest. It is good that we have the Opposition to challenge us, although it would be very helpful if it focused on solutions. I hope we can do that in this House.

As for me being the leader of the Green Party in the Seanad, as a stone picking, turf cutting, cow and goat milking, rural, single mother, it is good to dispel myths. There are many myths around the Green Party, including that we are Fine Gael on bikes and are upper-middle class Dublin people. I am the complete antithesis of that. The fact is we can work together with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, hand in hand, doing all we can as a rural voice that is sincere, not populist and in denial about climate change and the challenges that rural Ireland faces. The number one thing is that until all rural representatives accept the phenomenal adaptation we need to do in rural Ireland to cope with climate change, we are doing rural people a disservice. We cannot rely on the Child of Prague or business as usual around agriculture. That is just not fit for purpose. It has not suited many people in rural Ireland for a long time. We have to take it very seriously. I look forward to bringing that to the fore.

I have seen the farms that were flooded and the people trapped in homes as a result. We need better for rural Ireland. To get that, we need rural voices that will be sincere and will step up to the mark and the challenge. People in rural Ireland are the majority of the population. We feed the people but we need to have honest debates. The time for populist rhetoric around the Green Party hating rural Ireland, or keeping going with expanding everything and business as usual, will not serve us in rural Ireland. We will be in serious trouble. I look forward to bringing those issues to the fore in my new role. I do not even know what the acronym is for the group on climate change that will meet once a month, but I look forward to getting stuck in. A friend of mine said, "effective chaos", but chaotic effectiveness is what I hope to bring to the Seanad.