Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests who are seated in the Gallery I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for tabling this motion. I remind the House that in December 2022 the Seanad Independent Group, in a similar motion, called for the national children's hospital to be named after Dr. Kathleen Lynn. The motion was proposed by my colleague, Senator Keogan, seconded and passed. It is great that we are revisiting the issue and people have moved on. Interestingly, the preliminary response to our motion in December 2022 was that it was too premature but now we are halfway through 2023 and some things have changed. I acknowledge the support and work of the groups involved, particularly Senator Fitzpatrick who has a better link with the Government than I as she is a member of a Government party. There has a broad shift in support and why would there not be for this remarkable woman?

As we know, Kathleen Lynn was born on 28 January in 1874 near Killala, County Mayo and was the daughter of a Church of Ireland clergyman. Like many members of the Church of Ireland, they had great allegiance to nationalism and republicanism, which is a narrative that is not quite told in our history. Such people had a great support for an independent Ireland that was free to do its own thing and have its own governance. As an active member of the Church of Ireland, I am very proud of that long history in terms of language and culture, as is the current Church of Ireland. Last Sunday, President Michael D. Higgins somewhat touched on that history during his speech at the national famine commemoration in Milford, County Donegal. I believe that narrative is not spoken enough and naming the hospital after Dr. Lynn fits into all of that.

Earlier today, when we talked about the mother and baby institutions payments scheme, I kept thinking that if Dr. Kathleen Lynn was here then she would be a robust, strong advocate-----