Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach, and the mayor is most welcome to celebrate the Nobel Prize being awarded to such a great organisation. We acknowledge his leadership in that and hope he will continue to be a voice for peace as next year we mark the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed more than 100,000 instantly and many more in the months and years that followed.

Anniversaries are an opportunity to reflect and remember, but also an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the cause of peace. We celebrated that last year in Ireland with the marking of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. When that agreement was signed there were many conflicts around the world but today, there are three times as many conflicts as there were a quarter of a century ago. The mayor's work, the work of his organisation and the commitment to peace is something we want to support in any way we can.

On the day the bomb was dropped in Nagasaki there was a doctor there from County Cork who was a prisoner of war. He was digging his own grave along with the prisoners of war. The digging of the grave was what saved his life when the bomb was dropped. Despite the fact that he was about to be killed by his captors, upon the surrender of Japan he was given the sword of the commandant of the camp which was holding him and many others. In the months that followed he tended to the wounded of the devastation caused by the dropping of the nuclear bomb in Nagasaki, which shows humanity even against those who might oppress us. That example of Dr. Aidan MacCarthy from County Cork is an example to us all on how in those circumstances we should show humanity to everyone. Even though that happened 79 years ago it is an example that still resonates today. I thank the mayor for being here with us, and I congratulate him on the fantastic achievement of winning the Nobel Prize through his hard work and that of the people involved in the organisation.