Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

Before I call the Leader to propose the Order of Business, as this is the first sitting day since the presidential election, I take a moment to congratulate our President-elect, Catherine Connolly. I have no doubt that Catherine Connolly will serve with distinction. We all wish her the very best of success over the next seven years during her term of office. Of course we also acknowledge and thank Michael D. Higgins for his long service, not only as President but also as a Member of this House and of Dáil Éireann and serving in the Cabinet over many years. I had the honour of serving with him on the foreign affairs committee, which he helped establish with our colleague, Senator David Norris, many years ago in Buswells Hotel, of all places, where they insisted that there should be a foreign affairs committee in the Oireachtas. There was much resistance to the idea of there being a foreign affairs committee but Michael D. Higgins, along with David Norris, insisted on it. The committee has done great service ever since, as have all those who served on it. I was with Michael D. Higgins in Israel and Palestine and we were in Colombia together a few times. He is always great company but also a very strong advocate for all voices in our country and beyond. I thank them for their service.

Last week, I received formal notification from the returning officer for the presidential election, Barry Ryan. I am told that this document was first printed in 1956 and that they give these as a notification to the Members, the Cathaoirleach, the Ceann Comhairle, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Taoiseach, the President and the President-elect. Captain Anthony from the Defence Forces formally has to hand it to the various officeholders, which is one of the unique parts of our democracy. The fact that we have our own Head of State elected by the people is a testimony to us being one of the few countries in the world to have a continuous democracy for 100 years or more. To our President-elect, go n-éirí an t-ádh léi.

We were all saddened to hear of the sad death of Sr. Stan Kennedy from Lispole in County Kerry. She was the fourth of five children who grew up on the family farm and was a champion of the poor and those who did not have someone to speak for them. She entered religious life in 1958 and joined the Sisters of Charity in Milltown in Dublin where, first and foremost, she was an advocate for those who suffered from urban poverty. She realised that not only were they suffering from physical deprivation but also from loneliness in and of itself.That became the cornerstone of her life. She worked in Kilkenny in the 1960s and pioneered the establishment of service projects, including social service projects and a school of social education, introducing the first professional training for residential childcare workers. She also spoke truth to power, to the church and to the State, including when she challenged the Catholic Church to use resources to support the poor. The backlash was often swift and severe, drawing criticism from Rome itself. She remained undeterred. She said, "I was silenced. But then I rose up again, started speaking out again." In the 1970s, as chair of the EU-funded national committee on pilot schemes to combat poverty, Sr. Stan championed a radical approach to social justice, supporting rural co-operatives, Travellers, women and people with disabilities. In 1985 she founded Focus Point, now Focus Ireland, one of the largest voluntary housing associations and organisations in the country. Her tireless work for the homeless was rooted in a belief that homelessness was not inevitable but a solvable issue. This was her message and she brought it to successive governments. Her vision extended beyond homelessness of course, and in 1988 she founded the Sanctuary, a centre for holistic spirituality in Dublin. In 2001, she established the Immigrant Council of Ireland to support new arrivals and promote integration. She also founded Social Innovation Ireland to empower young people to share a more just society. Her contributions have been widely recognised and she has at least 18 honorary doctorates and numerous awards. In 2003, she was described as a woman known for her fairness, "persistence and a cultivated inability to comprehend the answer 'no'". Sr. Stan has left a lasting legacy in the lives she touched, the institutions she built and the institutions that she challenged. She was a woman of faith and fierce determination and she will be remembered. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis. I ask Members to be upstanding for a minute's silence for Sr. Stan.