David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry not to have been in the House much recently but my cancer has come back and is in my lung. However, that has not stopped me enjoying life thoroughly, particularly on a beautiful day like this. I commend Senator Warfield strongly on his initiative in putting this motion before the House. It is an excellent thing to have done.

I had not realised it was 30 years. I am not good on anniversaries as I do not think backwards. Rather, I tend to think forward in life. I would like to recognise, as others have done, my colleague and friend Edmund Lynch, who is in the Gallery. I would also like to recognise Martin Barnes, who I have not seen for some time, and the others. Mention has been made of my old pal, Jeff Dudgeon, and I would like to say that our two cases were quite different because in his case there was a raid for drugs and coincidentally they came across a diary in which there were notations about homosexual encounters and so on and so forth. It was only accidental that they came across him and started to prosecute him. He then went straight across to Strasbourg, but I did not. My case was deliberately and politically planned. It was an attempt to drag the question of homosexuality out of the darkness, shadows and shade and place it as a matter deserving of proper political respect and attention.

In the case, I had good legal advice. I mention Garrett Sheehan, who was a remarkable solicitor. I think he is now a judge but perhaps he is retired. I mention Garrett Cooney. We chose Mr. Cooney because he was a conservative Roman Catholic and we thought this was exactly the kind of person we want to attack from inside. Garrett Cooney got up on the first day and said that his client, Mr. Norris, was a congenital and irreversible homosexual. Well that was news to me but I said that whatever it takes let us roll with it. The next day the morning newspapers said that when he opened his case in the High Court, Mr. Garrett Cooney, senior counsel, told the court that he was an irreversible and congenital homosexual. Garrett went crackers and demanded a retraction so the next day the headline said that Garrett Cooney had stated he was not a homosexual, and everybody was enjoying this over their breakfast marmalade and saying that whatever about that his eyes were close together. There was a lot of fun involved in those things. I could go on about it but there is no point in doing so.

I am honoured to have been associated with moves which lead to greater happiness for many young men in Ireland, and that is a great achievement. I would also like to pay sincere tribute to Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, who was a Minister at the time. Thank God it was a woman. I do not think a man would have had the balls for it to be honest and I do not think they would have faced up to it. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was approached by a Fine Gael backroom girl called Phil Moore, whose husband had a radio shop up at the top of Grafton Street or Kildare Street. Their son Dermot was gay and she went and spoke to Máire Geoghegan-Quinn as one mother to another and that sold it, which was great.

I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Ireland. I have always felt the people of Ireland were decent, civilised and tolerant and so they proved to be. This was not an Irish law when it was introduced. It was the Labouchere amendment under which Oscar Wilde was convicted. It was introduced in the late 19th century as an adjunct to a Bill. It was never discussed in the House of Commons and it was introduced after midnight. Now it is gone and thank God for that. We will not mourn its passing.