An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2022-04-05
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Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel

We are dealing with the Order of Business and I want to speak on an important aspect of that. Senators McDowell and Norris and I tabled an amendment regarding President Zelenskyy's address tomorrow. I believe we made our point. The Seanad can shine a light on many issues and we did so last night. The national media covered it. Our main concern was about the continuous and horrific images of civilians lying dead on the streets of Bucha. It is a matter for us and, personally, I believe it was important that we send a strong message to the Russian ambassador that he is not welcome in our parliamentary house of democracy. That is my view and I believe it is worth saying. I and my colleagues who tabled the amendment wanted to make it very clear that we did not believe it was right or appropriate to invite the ambassador of Russia to our House, the people's house and the house of democracy in this country. I want to put it on the record that, considering all matters equal and what has happened, while the ambassador has not declined the invitation, he has not accepted it. We will await what happens but I am now pretty confident the ambassador will not arrive on the lawns of Leinster House tomorrow morning.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2022-04-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:20+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-04-05