Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will try to be as timely as Senator Craughwell. I welcome the Polish ambassador and her new defence attaché. Colonel Sprengel is based in London and has come over specifically to celebrate Constitution Day, which is a national holiday in Poland. It is important to note that there are approximately 120,000 people from Poland living in Ireland. Many of them are well established. Their children were born in Ireland and they have raised them here. We do not have the most recent census figures but the previous census showed that, after English, Polish is the second most spoken everyday language in Ireland. Polish people have made a huge contribution to this country and we should be appreciative of all the work they do and the fact they have integrated so well right across the country, in both urban and rural areas. They bring a lot to our culture and society. I am wearing a red tie today not to show support for Donald Trump or for the Cathaoirleach, who is a Cork man, but because red and white are the Polish colours. I am joined in doing so by Senator Craughwell and others.

I congratulate the Leader, who is my party leader in the Seanad, on her recent wedding. Congratulations to Lisa and Jarlath. I also congratulate Senator Higgins on her news and wish her the best of luck.

I welcome the speech yesterday by the Tánaiste on the relationship between China and Ireland and how that relationship is developing. He acknowledged the One China policy but stated that any attempt to deal with Taiwan by force would be unacceptable. He further stated that it is important, permissible and welcome that we would have cultural, economic and other ties with Taiwan and that such ties are not any snub against China. The lecture he gave was very interesting and thought-provoking and I encourage Members to listen to it.

Like the previous speaker, I will not run over time and I, too, thank the Cathaoirleach for his forbearance.