Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his kind words in relation to me still being here after the marathon. I join with colleagues in remembering Louis Belton, who I heard about more than 30 years ago from Padraig Sheridan, the grandnephew of General Seán MacEoin. Louis Belton passed away, as the Cathaoirleach outlined, when he was just shy of his 80th birthday. He was one of nearly a dozen members of his family to serve in the Oireachtas, and it is quite an achievement for any family to give such service to the State. As the Cathaoirleach pointed out, he was elected to the Dáil. He was the first Deputy from Fine Gael to represent Longford, following in the footsteps of the previous Deputy from Fine Gael, General Seán MacEoin, who retired and left politics in 1965. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam, an Seanadóir agus an Teachta Dála, Louis Belton.

As the Cathaoirleach has also pointed out, it is the 100th anniversary of W. B. Yeats’ winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. Obviously, he gave some great speeches in this House. His portrait is more remembered but, as Senator McDowell has quoted many a time when speaking about the issue of rights and responsibilities, on the issue of divorce he said how “We ... are no petty people”. He also spoke in debates here, during the fraught days of 1924, about the Irish Boundary Commission which was being established at that time. He spoke about the future of Ireland. At the time, he said he did not believe he would see a united Ireland in his lifetime, but he believed it would be won not because we would fight for it, but because we would govern ourselves well, unite people under culture and win the imagination of younger people.We look forward to celebrating the 100th anniversary of that great achievement by one of Ireland's greatest public servants, artists and writers.

I pay tribute to Senator Norris, the father of the House, on the announcement of his retirement. It is important that before Christmas, if possible, we invite him to the House to give people the opportunity to give him the praise he so richly deserves. I remember him talking about the fact that he often could not get people to second his motions on what was, for many at the time, the radical change that he brought to this country. He dragged this country into the 21st century and he allowed people to be who they are. For that service to the State, we owe him a great debt and a great deal of thanks.