Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a pleasure for me, politically and personally, to address Senator Buttimer as Cathaoirleach. He is well entitled to aspire to the position. He will be a very popular and successful Cathaoirleach. He had a bit of hard luck about two and a half years ago. I always admire people in politics who take it on the chin and get on with the work when little setbacks some. From my experience they always get their reward later on. That is a case in point today.

We have been friends for a good while. We were both elected to the House in the same election, in 2007. The chain was referred to. I was the fellow who was in the other half of that epic count which went on until all hours of the morning and I eventually beat Shane by 0.8 of a vote for the last seat. I have been great friends with Shane ever since and I have been very good friends with the Cathaoirleach. When I look at him, I see qualities I like and admire. I know he is a man of intellect and high intelligence, which is important in the position he holds. I know also he is a man of great integrity, which is equally important. Above all, he is a man of courage. He has shown that courage on a number of occasions, but none more so than when he went public on his circumstances and came out in the open. Like Senator Norris before him, he has given untold numbers of young people the courage to do likewise and to make sense of their lives. For that I applaud him very much. He also has a good sense of humour, and that is something he will want badly.

There are only two things wrong with the Cathaoirleach. Naturally, the first is that he is from Cork; he cannot help that. We cannot all be born lucky. The second is that he is also on the labour panel, which happens to be my panel. He has been an inveterate poll topper on the panel and feeds out of the same Munster area as I do. I do reasonably well out of Fine Gael transfers. I am Fine Gael-friendly, but I would get many more if the Cathaoirleach could switch panels the next time. As it happens, I am not going next time.

I also join in the tributes to my county colleague, Senator Mark Daly. He has been a tremendous Cathaoirleach. He brought a whole new dimension to the job with energetic, creative thinking outside the box. I saw him at close quarters on the Oireachtas commission on which he sat because he was Cathaoirleach of the Seanad. Senator Buttimer, as Cathaoirleach, will take that position. Senator Daly put a huge amount of work into that behind the scenes. It seems he is now going to be Leas-Chathaoirleach, so I will be overshadowed in Kerry for yet another term. More luck to Mark. He managed to do an awful lot in two-and-a-half years. Covid-19 was a big setback for him. If there had been no Covid, I imagine he would have done the divil altogether. We would not have seen much of him, he would have been in New York or Washington so often.

I also thank Senator Joe O'Reilly, who is one of the gentlemen of the Seanad. Everybody likes him and I am glad he got his term as Leas-Chathaoirleach. In the changeover of the leadership guard we are fortunate that both the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil teams are highly professional, namely, Senators Doherty, Kyne, Chambers and Gallagher. It does not matter to me which of them is in charge because they will work together seamlessly, as they have done up to now. They have done a good job.

I neglected to mention the Cathaoirleach's husband and family. It is wonderful to see them here. I hope they have an enjoyable day afterwards.

Mar fhocal scoir, it occurs to me that today is an important and historic day. It is the first instalment of what I think is now going to be a smooth transition from one half of the Government to the other. It is groundbreaking. It is important it goes right and certainly we got it right here in the Seanad. It is an endorsement of the Government also, because two and a half years ago, when the figures did not really add up for anybody, some parties took to the hills and were not available to deal about government. Bhí said as láthair. The Green Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil knuckled down and formed a Government. I am proud to say I am supporting that Government. They are doing a right good job and we are only halfway there. We have been watching on television recently the excellent series of programmes about the Civil War and how that terrible tragedy divided us. Is it not a great sign of our political maturity that we can come together here for the good of the country at a time when we have extremes on the left and on the right and populism all over the place? It is very important that parties like the Green Party, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael work together. If they continue to do so, the centre will hold. The centre has to hold.