Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. Ba mhaith liom ar dtús báire comhghairdeas a ghabhail le hachan duine a bhí páirteach le cuairt Uachtarán Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá an tseachtain seo caite. Is turas agus cuairt ar an Oireachtas a bhí stairiúil agus suntasach dúinn ar fad. I thank and commend all of those in the Houses of the Oireachtas who played any part, big or small, in ensuring a very successful and memorable visit by President Biden to the Houses for his address last week. It was a memorable occasion for all of us.

I particularly want to welcome the announcement from President Biden of the economic conference later this year. That will be an important opportunity for businesses, not just in the North but across the island, to co-ordinate, plan, engage and support workers and communities everywhere. It serves no one when the economies on our island compete or operate at varying levels. When we are doing well, we need to do well right across the island. The economic conference can really be of benefit and can bolster that. At Queen’s University yesterday, I had the opportunity with the new US envoy to the North, Joseph Kennedy. I certainly relayed to him the real benefit in bolstering our all-Ireland economy going forward.

I acknowledge the events taking place at Queen’s University to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and the inspiring and poignant address by Senator George Mitchell yesterday in which he reminded us not only of the long slog and the struggle in arriving at the agreement and getting the institutions up and running but also, very firmly, of the fact that we still have work to do and that we need those institutions back up and running and operating for everyone. In that spirit, while I know we passed a motion on the Good Friday Agreement some time ago, perhaps it would be timely to have statements on the shared island unit and the work it will be doing over the coming period.

I want to again flag the issue of passports. As we are heading into the summer, I am sure other colleagues are starting to receive calls regarding delays and concerns about people getting passports out on time. As we head into the summer and, no doubt, a rush, it would be an opportune time for us to have statements on the Department of Foreign Affairs and the services of the Passport Office.

I join colleagues in commending the Cathaoirleach. His remarks last week were very powerful and poignant. They went down tremendously well across the House. I thank him for representing the Seanad so well.