That matter has already been dealt with by Act of the Oireachtas. I dealt with it yesterday in my reply to Deputy Fogarty. The position is that Howth is being merged in the city and there is no provision for special representation. Henceforward, Howth will be part of the City of Dublin and the people there will vote as residents and electors of the City of Dublin in whatever happens to be the electoral area appropriate to them. That was decided by the Dáil and, for that decision, Deputy Byrne must accept responsibility, with every other member of the House.
I do wish that we had not had the parade of piety we have had from Deputy Cogan, with the implication that some Deputies would insult religion. Every Catholic in the House is as concerned as he is that nothing should be done which would be wanting in respect or in deference to the religion which we all hold sacred but which we do not make a parade of in hypocritical fashion, as he has done, holding himself up to the nation as a Pharisee. The choice of public representatives is a very high civic obligation and it ought to be treated as such. Otherwise, we shall not get the type of representative which the country in the present emergency requires. You can be disrespectful to rightful authority by casting reflection upon the seriousness of these elections or by implying that the person who does cast his vote on that day is performing a mere, temporal duty. He has a moral obligation as well, and, While I shall not draw a line as between one obligation and the other, I, certainly, do not think that any statement made by a Deputy should leave our people under the impression that they are doing anything unworthy, or anything contrary to public morality, or insulting to religion by participating in the elections.
As to the date of the elections, opinions will differ. In one part of the country we are told, on the one hand, that one date is suitable and in another part we are told, on the other hand, that that is not a suitable date, that a more remote date should be chosen. In coming to a decision, a multitude of considerations have to be borne in mind—difficulties in regard to the provision of artificial light, suitability of the weather from the point of view of voters who may have to travel long distances without adequate transport, the fact that, having come to a decision to hold the elections, we ought to hold them as early as possible and not allow months to elapse in which, perhaps, bitterness and bad feeling will be engendered. If the thing has to be done, it is better it should be done quickly. It is, I think, in the national interest—with one or two exceptions, every Deputy is convinced that it is in the national interest—that the elections should be held. That is the answer to Deputies, like Deputy Byrne, who say that nobody wants an election. In the sense that most people in the county would like to avoid the trouble and inconvenience of an election, these Deputies may be right in their assertion. But I believe that the people of the country want to feel that, if this emergency becomes more acute and if our local conditions become more difficult, there will be on the local authorities men able to discharge the responsibilities which will, inevitably, fall upon them. I think that the people of the country will welcome the opportunity to put fresh blood into the local authorities.
It is a strange thing that, in this House, which is composed of the elected representatives of the people and which does, in fact, derive its authority from the people, there should be opposition to the holding of elections, that members elected to the corporation, or to this House, should seem to think they should continue to hold their seats in perpetuity. That is not the principle on which this State has been built nor is it the principle on which our local affairs are administered. It is an essential duty that we should give to the people, from time to time, as ordained by law, the right to say whether or not they are satisfied with their representatives or whether they desire to change them. Once we come to adopt as a guiding principle that elections must not be held because they cause a little trouble or inconvenience, that moment the whole structure of the State will begin to decay. It does not matter whether it is Deputy Byrne or some other Deputy who wishes to deprive the people of their right——
