Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think so. There will be time to pay tribute to David. It is one of the greatest boasts of my life that I have shared a Chamber with him for 16 or 17 years, and we will have so much more to say about the great work he did.

I was given an opportunity last evening to meet the family of little Emily Hand - her father and her sister - and some other people from Israel whose families have either been slaughtered by Hamas or are currently being held captive by them. It was a very sad and poignant occasion. I was struck mainly by the dignity and the fortitude of the families. I have to say that, honestly, I did not witness any hatred or undue animosity against their adversaries. They were philosophical about it and all they really want is to see their people freed.

As Emily Hand is one of our own, as an Irish person, and we are always supposed to look after our own first, I would appeal to everybody in this country, no matter who they support. People are entitled to support Israel, as I do, or they can support Palestine, and even Hamas, if they wish - that is their call - but surely we can unite about the plight of an Irish girl who has now celebrated her ninth birthday in the horrors of a Hamas tunnel. God knows what condition she is in mentally and physically. I am appealing to everybody. I think we have had enough of protests of one sort or the other. It is pretty one-sided, and we know that. We know who is winning the propaganda war but, in the long term, what we need is peace - a peace that will last and a peace that will attain the security of the people of Israel, to which they are entitled.