I thank the Senator. I was honoured to serve with her in the previous Seanad and to serve with her father on the foreign affairs committee. He and I share the distinction of being under rocket attack together and being in Colombia together. He is a great public servant, as is the Senator.

I thank Senator Blaney. I also thank him and his family for their long service to the State and for his vision of a shared island, with which I agree. The language of politics is important and the words "united Ireland" spark fear in the hearts of many in Northern Ireland because they do not know what that would look like. The new unit in the Department of the Taoiseach is something we all welcome. I call Senator Eileen Flynn.

I thank Senator Flynn for her contribution, and for being here and allowing her name to go forward for nomination. It is not an easy thing to do when one gets a phone call from the Taoiseach asking one to be the voice of an entire community that has felt such extreme marginalisation for so long. I thank Senator Flynn and we look forward to working with her and hearing her thoughts and ideas on how we can bridge that gap.

Thank you, Senator Dooley. I know you will continue to represent the banner county here and also through the European group which Fianna Fáil is aligned to representing Ireland in Europe. We all share your concerns and the belief that everybody should know where he or she will be laying his or her head at night. Everybody is entitled to have a roof over his or her head. I call Senator Pauline O'Reilly.

Thank you. I look forward to working with the Senator on those issues that are so important to us all here in Ireland but also to the planet.

I thank the Senator for his contribution and for his work in the previous Seanad on the issues and on holding the Government to account, which is the job and the role of Opposition.

I thank the Senator. I have no doubt she deserves to be in this House. In fact, I am sure further public office awaits, no matter where that is. Although she acts locally as a councillor, she thinks globally and she is already inviting the possible future US President, Mr. Biden, who has ancestors in her part of the world, and maybe he might address our House at some stage. I look forward to working with the Senator on that.

I thank the Senator for her remarks and for all the emails she sent to us on behalf of the Union of Students in Ireland. It is great that she is now here to lobby in person. I hope she will thank her sisters for their work and I wish her well on her upcoming marriage.

I thank Senator Cassells. I remember him from that famous campaign in 2007 as well. I am delighted he is here with us now. I also recognise the former Senator, Donie Cassidy, who has forgotten more about winning Seanad elections than I will ever know.

There was no love on that island, I can tell you that.

I thank the Senator. I also thank her for her work in the previous Seanad. She was responsible for the justice portfolio, which is a huge portfolio to be responsible for. She was one of the co-sponsors of the Irish Sign Language Bill 2016 for the deaf community and she spent hours in the Seanad working on it. The Senator also did enormous work on the gender pay gap. A report from Europe today indicated that Ireland is simply not doing enough on it. It appears that equality still eludes us 102 years after women got …

I thank the Senator. His championing of workers' rights, like all colleagues, is well known. His mention of former colleagues who are not in the Chamber with us today is appropriate on a day like this. He also mentioned voting rights, which is in the programme for Government. The most fundamental right of a citizen of any republic should be the right to vote regardless of where one is. I hope we will see progress on that issue under the programme for Government.

Thank you, Senator Fitzpatrick. Thank you for mentioning Brother Kevin Crowley, the Capuchin Day Centre and the sad reality that it is busier than it ever was. I congratulate the Senator. I know you are going to make a huge contribution in this Seanad on behalf of your community. Some of them were outside the door, so excited were they, to greet you. I do not think anyone quite had the reception party for their arrival today that you had.

You are more than welcome to Kerry any time.

Thank you, Senator, for your contribution. Hopefully, you will visit Kerry soon. I will be up in Derry at some stage again. I was canvassing there not so long ago. I will not say for whom as I do not want to be political on the issue. Senator Blaney talked about the new unit in the Taoiseach's Department working on the shared island. That is something on which we could all work together.

I thank Senator Casey. I remember the pheasant plucker's ball, which can be very hard to say. I thank the Senator for meeting me all those years ago. I acknowledge his work on the housing committee in the previous Oireachtas. People do not always get credit. Committees are tough and one must be alert. Senator Casey - then Deputy Casey - was the person who spotted that a planning regulation was coming in on rural housing that was economic only, and he insisted that a social aspect be included. As a result it allowed…

Please, do not say "a couple".

Canvassing will not disqualify you.

I thank Senator Byrne for his work. I am aware that he is passionate about higher education because it is a field he has worked in. If anyone wants to know about Senator Byrne's long campaign over the past two years, I believe the only office he has not run for is President. President Higgins had better watch out. I could be wrong, but I believe the final speaker is Senator Seery Kearney.

I thank the Senator. I welcome David to the Visitors Gallery and thank him for his patience. If I have got the running order wrong, Members will have to show me some forbearance. There is a protocol for how this works and I have not quite figured it out yet, so if Members feel like they are not getting the right running order, I will admit it. I call my good friend, Senator Conway.