I believe the Senator who might have made that statement is no longer in the House so I cannot direct anybody to-----

It is up to the Senators. This is a debating Chamber. Senators have the right to interrupt a Senator at any time during a debate and ask the Senator to allow them to make a point while the debate is ongoing. The Senator in possession does not have to give way, does not have to take the question and does not have to answer the question but that is the rule of the House. It is up to Senators. I am not the judge of what people say. I am not the judge of the orders as agreed by the House. Senators have the right to int…

Before I call on the Leader and then the Leas-Chathaoirleach to respond and conclude the debate, I thank the MEPs for being part of this and all our Senators for their questions and the engagement in the questions and answers session, which is an important part of that. I welcome to the Gallery guests of Senator McDowell who are from Indiana. They are most welcome here today. All of them are from Indiana, from the business leaders. It is part of 140-strong delegation that is over here from Indiana as part of the ed…

Before I conclude, it would be appropriate, given the themes we are talking about in our Presidency of the European Union, to quote a previous MEP, John Hume, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, who always talked about what he described as a single transferable speech: Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace – respect for div…

I welcome students and guests of Senator Joe Conway from Italia to the Visitors Gallery. I believe the Senator is downstairs with more students from Italy. I think the best thing to say is " Ciao ". After that, my Italian gets very poor. I thank them for being here in Seanad Éireann. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Calleary, to the House for the Commencement matters, which are submitted by Members of the Seanad on the day previous to sitting. Four of the Commencement matters are selected by the Cathaoirleach for Min…

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Calleary, to Seanad Éireann. I officially congratulate, on the record, County Mayo on winning the all-Ireland football title. It is a bit delayed but the county is celebrating since the victory. We are a humble people in County Kerry and we are willing to wait another year for our 40th title. I congratulate County Mayo on its title after only 75 years. I thank the Minister for being here today.

Before I call on the Leader to outline the Order of Business, I extend my sympathies to Senator Craughwell on the sad passing of his wife during the summer. We all know that it had been a very difficult year for him and I know that all Senators were praying for him over the past number of weeks and months. On behalf of the House, I extend our sympathies to Senator Craughwell. We will be observing a minute's silence - and we will include the Senator's wife in that - in relation to a former Member of this House, Enda…

I ask the Leader to outline the Order of Business.

Thank you. Anois, Senator O'Loughlin.

As Members are aware, Standing Order 52 covers the issue around adverse effects on people who are not here to defend and speak for themselves. Standing Order 53(8) also talks about the public interest. I understand that Members will raise issues here under public interest for the citizens of Ireland who may raise issues. On the other hand, they may be on the receiving end of adverse effects upon them for speaking up on behalf of people or on issues that they feel need to be raised. When Members raise issues they wi…

I thank Senator Craughwell for sharing that very intimate final few weeks and days of his wife's journey on this earth and his support for her.

I referred earlier to Standing Order 52 in relation to utterances in the House and the public interest. I realise many of the issues raised here today are in the public domain and many of the names mentioned are also in the public domain, having been reported in the media and dealt with by committees. I just want to make sure Members strike the balance between the public interest and people's right to their good name.

I am sure the Leader will provide time in the Order of Business in the coming weeks, in conjunction with the families and Members from Donegal, to ensure we have expressions of sympathy for the former Senator to give people more time to put on the record his great service to this House, to Donegal and to Ireland.

We have already discussed it this morning but I congratulate the Senator.

I admit that the Senator is not incorrect in his statement.

I would be quite happy to welcome them to the Seanad.

You see how gracious we are in Kerry that the Senator went way over time and I never even rang the bell once. I said, "You know what? If it only happens once every 75 years we can definitely give extra time on it". I said this morning that it was quite a scene after the game itself to see the celebrations on the pitch in Croke Park. I think there was somebody who was 91 years of age when the cup arrived in Mayo in the past couple of weeks and he was quite emotional on the return of the cup after 75 years. We look f…

I would not say that. It is joy unconfined.

I do not know about the football field, but Senator Duffy always had great positional sense in politics.

Regarding Standing Order 153(1), before the Order of Business I announced the death of a former Member of this House, Enda Bonner. Members stood for a minute's silence. One of the Standing Orders of this House ensures that all former Members are remembered by the House. I ask the Leader to read out the motion that will be sent to the family this week.