An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Alison Comyn (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach

As Fianna Fáil spokesperson in the Seanad for arts and culture, I will use my time to congratulate Ireland's very own slice of Kerry gold, Jessie Buckley, on her magnificent win. It is the crowning glory of what has been an incredible few weeks, becoming the first ever Irish woman to win the best actress Oscar. I do not want to sound like I am making an Oscar's speech myself but we have to mention Marina Cassidy and Tim Buckley, her very proud parents. She has made everybody right across this country, and particularly in her own county, extremely proud. I mention those schools, such as the Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, County Tipperary and the Kerry School of Music because they are certainly taking a lot of really well-deserved credit for where she is now.
This is something we need to focus on a little bit more as well. She is an incredible role model for arts right across Ireland and we need to focus on how we can capitalise on this and make sure the next generation following Jessie Buckley can come along.
Of course, it was not even a few weeks ago when Jessie Buckley appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show on American television. She famously mentioned Termonfeckin and Drogheda in my parish. We were delighted and we have made her an honorary Termonfeckin women and a Droghedian as well. I take this opportunity to formally invite her to come and visit Termonfeckin and Drogheda, where we would be delighted to allow her to show off her Oscar.
It is also a good opportunity for me to invite the Minister for arts into the Seanad to have a debate on how we can possibly fund smaller drama groups and smaller community groups to make sure the future of the likes of Jessie Buckley is safe in Ireland.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-18